John 13:31-38

Be Still: As the deer pants for water, Lord, my soul longs for you. Let me drink deep that I may be refreshed in your streams of life. 

Read: John 13:31-38 

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. (vv34,35)

Encounter: In an TV interview, Rowan Williams was once asked the big question, 'Why are we here?' I thought his reply was eloquent. He said, and I’m paraphrasing, that we are here because God is love and love requires that there be an 'other' to love. 

The meaning of life is not to gain wealth, amass fame, or even be remembered. It is to love and be loved. First, to be loved by God, and second to love him and one another. In Charlie Mackesy’s book, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse, the boy comes through a journey of hardship to realise that love is indeed the answer. 

In this section of John 13, by releasing Judas to betray him, Jesus has just put in motion the events that would lead him to the Cross. Jesus’ sacrifice was the ultimate demonstration of love. As he later says in John’s gospel, 'Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.' (John 15:13)

Apply: Is my life reflecting the kind of self-sacrificial love Jesus demonstrates or am I more self-seeking and self-gratifying? How might Jesus be calling me to put down my life for the sake of my friends? As Jesus said in Matthew’s gospel, 'Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.' (Matthew 16:25) 

Devote: Jesus, I count it the greatest privilege to lose my life for your kind of living. Show me how to love my neighbour with your give-it-all kind of love so they will know I am one of yours.