Day 5
Read: John 3: 16 – 21
John 3:16 is the first verse I ever memorized, and honestly – I was hesitant to use it today. It is a verse often overused and frequently oversimplified. It is easy, for me especially, to feel numb to the weight of the power of the words in the verse. However, it is a verse that so clearly speaks to God’s love for us, that I could not pass it up. When pairing it with verses 17 – 21, it paints such a beautiful picture of the good news we have in Jesus.
“For God so love the world”, or as the English Standard Version (ESV) says in the footnotes– “For this is how God loved the world.” God demonstrates His love to us through the sending of Jesus. Humans were living in darkness and desired evil and darkness over the light. Yet, God chose to send His only Son into the world. He didn’t send Him so that we would feel judged or condemned, but instead that we might be saved from the worst parts of ourselves. Without choosing to believe in Christ and following His way of life, we only act in more and more darkness, which eventually leads to our death. It is through Jesus that we have the opportunity to have life, and life eternal with God.
He loves us too much to allow us to sit in the darkness that we store up for ourselves. He doesn’t guilt trip us or seek to be in the right. Instead, He lovingly plans a way to get us out of the mess we made for ourselves. He sacrificed everything of Himself to make a way for us. There is no greater love than this.
Smile in a Cup: God sacrificed everything of Himself to make a way for us to be reconciled to Him and live a flourishing life.
Smile in a Cup 