Daily Devotion – April 30, 2021 – Pastor Brian Hansen

1 John 4:7-21 

7Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 

14And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 

17Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19We love because he first loved us. 20Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. 

When I was a kid growing up in Walker, MN a woman by the name of Sharon Lund moved to town and joined our Church.  She was a talented guitar player and she soon received permission to teach a large group of teenagers and adults how to play the guitar.  This group was joined by my mother and older brother and eventually they started playing at Church providing special music.  Over time this group also began to lead a monthly worship service.

Some of the fruit of that guitar ministry that I received was the opportunity to learn and sing songs that were connected to bible verses.  This passage from 1 John 4 verses 7 & 8 was one of the songs that I learned.  And in learning that song this verse has always been a verse I’ve been able to recall and reflect on.

At seminary a number of my professors talked about our cannon with in the cannon.  What that primarily means is that within the biblical text we all have readings that we believe communicate who God is and what God is about with more clarity.  Perhaps a better way of saying this is to say that there are some texts that communicate the truths of God’s love and desire more clearly than others.  This particular passage for me is one of those texts, for it seems to communicate who God is and what God cares about with great clarity and power.  Thank God for the words and the songs of faith that help us to hear and to understand God’s presence and God’s will for us and all of creation.

Let us pray:  Gracious God help us to sing your praises and communicate your love for creation not only through our words but also through our actions.  Thank you for loving us first so that we might rest securely in the promise of that love and live our lives in the freedom of that promise.  AMEN