As I sat down to read our passage for today, I knew I should read the whole chapter to get the context of Jesus’s words, but the enemy was distracting me and pulling my desire and attention away from God’s Word. Anything else seemed to be a better use of my time. There is indeed a spiritual battle going on around us!
Friend, the enemy does not want you to hear the Word of God, for he is a liar, and he hates the truth (John 8:44). The enemy knows God’s Word is truth and has the power to set you fully free (John 8:32), so he will do anything to keep you away from it, whether that means keeping you apathetic to it or “too busy” for it.
Once I started reading today’s passage, I could not stop myself. I was soaking up the very words of Jesus, my Savior and Best Friend. He was talking directly about me, to me. He was praying specifically for me. True tears welled up in my eyes to the point where I could not see. They were tears of joy, tears that come when you realize how deeply you are loved.
I knew at that moment that Jesus was alive and that He was close to me, wanting me to know His heart for me. This moment felt so intimate and warm and safe and peaceful because I was abiding in the truth of God and not the enemy’s lies that I was unseen, forgotten, unloved, and alone. My God’s Word said I belonged to Him and that I lived in Him. It said I was known and loved by Him even if the world did not embrace me.
Dear friend, Jesus has prayed for you and is praying for you right now. Did you know that Jesus Christ lives at the right hand of God and is interceding for us (Romans 8:34)? It is evident in John 17 that God’s heart is for you to know Him intimately. He went so far as to send His beloved Son, Jesus, to earth to reveal His character and nature to you: a character of deep mercy, compassion, and loyal love (Psalm 145:8). Jesus is God in the flesh, who made His home on earth with the sole purpose of demonstrating God’s love for you.
Your sin did not scare Him off, but His perfect love for you only ever drew Him closer. God’s heart is that none may perish but that all may come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). This means that He wants you to exist in an intimate relationship with Him. This is why He sent His Son. For me, this gives new meaning to Jesus’ words in John 17:3: “Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.”
Friend, maybe you have lost sight of the truth that God loves you personally. I encourage you to consider the cost of eternal life. What did Jesus have to do so that you could live? He surely gave His everything for you. All that is left is for you to believe it. Surely you are worth being loved because Jesus deemed you worth His blood. I could not proclaim it better than this: “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6–8).
Week 6 Challenge:
Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God and the only way to eternal life? Why or why not? Could you explain this to a friend who does not know Christ? This week, ask God to open a door for you to share how Jesus is the Son of God and the only way to eternal life with someone who does not yet know Him.
Week 6 Reading Plan
Week 6 Memory Verse
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