“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God… God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” (1 John 4:7, 16)
Merry Christmas!
I hope that you’re reading this during a quiet moment, maybe after the gifts have been opened, as everyone is sipping hot chocolate or coffee, and that whether your house has the capacity for a crackling fire or not, that you’re being warmed by the love of all those around you.
While I hope this is true and you’re relishing the warmth of that love, remember that what you’re experiencing is more than mere sentimentality. Sometimes we accidentally neuter love by rendering it to a mere emotion. The holidays are particularly prone to this. But if you’re experiencing (and giving) love right now, then I hope you’ll remember what John writes in his first letter – namely, that you are experiencing what it means to be born of God and to abide in Him. Furthermore, that love you’re feeling is nothing less than the experience of God. Right now. With all those friends and family surrounding you. That’s God you’re feeling.
So, let’s not neglect a second of it. Even though devotional reflections are important, quit reading this. Go abide in that love a little more and trust that your abiding in God at the same time.
Merry Christmas!
Amen.
