So Loved

          Have you ever heard the statement familiarity breeds contempt? This is so often true. Have you ever noticed that when two people start dating they are very nice to each other? They put each other first and do everything they can to please one another. Then after they are married for a while and have to live life together 24/7 and share everything the story often changes. Why? Because what we become familiar with we put lesser value on.

          I think we can do this with the word of God as well, especially with verses that are very well known. Take John 3:16 for instance. This is probably one of the most well-known verses of all time. We teach it to our kids, people put it on signs at sporting events, even non-Christians have heard of John 3:16. There is a good reason it is so popular and that is because this verse really sums up the Gospel, but if we aren’t careful we think of this verse as a children’s verse and take it for granted. We can lose sight of the awe inspiring message that it contains.

          I know I can be guilty of this. I remember several years ago I visited a church and the pastor started preaching on John 3:16. I immediately assumed I didn’t really need to listen, because I know all about John 3:16. I thought it was a verse for kids or people who have never heard of the Bible, not for someone like me who has been in church their whole life. I have to say it was only recently that I was reminded to look at this verse the way it is meant to be read.

          I think because we can get so familiar with the verse that we don’t get awed by what it really says.  John 3:16 should give us a sense of amazement when we read it. Just think about it- God, the Creator, so loved the world. Just that alone is amazing. The NLT says God loved the world so much He sent His son. It is easy to blow past this and think God loves the world, and we think of it as a big corporate world thing, but by saying God so loved the world He is also saying God so loved you- personally. God loved you so much that he gave Jesus, His most precious gift He could give, so that you could believe in Him and have eternal life. We can get so used to this verse that we forget how precious this sacrifice was. In fact I think sometimes people don’t even think about it as a sacrifice at all. It was so long ago that it isn’t even really relevant to us now.

          We may even think that we are the ones doing the sacrificing. We feel that we sacrifice for God by going to church, reading our Bibles, and praying. We pat ourselves on the back for doing these things, like we are all that and a bag of chips. Secretly some people get it in their head that they are doing these works and that is what makes them right with God. They forget it was His sacrifice that allows us to be right with Him. His gift is what you are to believe in so that you can have eternal life. We think we are doing God a favor because we go to church (when we feel like it and we don’t have something better to do), we read our Bibles (when we have a few minutes), and we pray (when we need something), but we don’t realize that these things are part of the gift God gave us. These actions we do are not designed just to be done out of obedience and to be “righteous”, but they are to be done to help us grow closer to the one who so loved us. God gave us His word so we can know who He is, so we can learn to trust Him and accept His love for us. It isn’t just a rule book; it is a love letter to us.

          When we think of the Bible as an outdated rule book we gloss over verses like John 3:16 and we can belittle the sacrifice of Jesus and not allow it to be a personal revelation of His love for us. We can’t allow ourselves to think that our works are a sacrifice greater than the sacrifice that God gave us, but when we allow the revelation of His love and sacrifice to really fill our hearts we will want to grow closer to God and in turn we will want our actions to improve. A few verses after John 3:16 in verse 19-21we read, “God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” When we truly accept the revelation of God’s love and believe in His son as not only our savior from death/punishment but our Lord in life and we will begin to love the light more than darkness. We will want to turn from our sins and not let anything stand in the way of our relationship with God. If you have made a decision for Christ, but your life hasn’t changed you might want to think about if you really truly made a decision for Christ or if we were just trying to escape hell.

          It is so easy to take for granted who God is and what He has done for us. Many people look at God as a distant being who is sitting in judgment and even have a tendency to want to ignore Him and hope He doesn’t notice. How many people walk an aisle or make a declaration for Christ out of fear of hell, because they want fire insurance, instead of truly realizing that it isn’t just about being rescued from hell. Jesus did die on the cross a painful agonizing death so we could be saved from punishment, but His death was so much more. His death was given so we could have a personal love relationship with God. Don’t lose sight of the fact that God so loved YOU, He gave His son. God wants an everyday personal relationship, not just a Sunday morning date. He wants the kind of relationship with you where you know Him and trust Him and allow Him to be a comfort in the middle of your storms, a friend when you need a listening ear, and a God who wants to rejoice with you in your good times. Is this who God is to you, or is He just a judge in the sky waiting for you to mess up? I challenge you to read John 3:16 and let it inspire you, let it encourage you, let it make a difference in your life today. When you read the Bible allow each verse to remind you of God’s love for you. Take the time to spend with God, getting to know Him, the One who loves you. It is easy to let the busyness of this world crowd out the time with Him and to think it doesn’t even matter, but God wants to speak to you of His love for you- but He can only do that when you take the time to let Him.