Ephesians 3:19 (NLT)
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
The apostle tells us the love of Christ is too great to fully understand, but we can begin to understand His love by placing our faith in Christ. We can pray so that we might begin to know him. Christians can pray to have a closer fellowship with Him and grow in their knowledge of Him. On this side of heaven if may be impossible to fully understand the love of Christ. However, here on earth we can receive the grace of God granted to us by Jesus Christ, which brings us closer to God and Christ.
One weekend, author Paul Tripp gave his teenage son permission to spend the weekend at a friend's house. But during the weekend Paul got a call from the friend's mother, telling him that his son was not at her home. (Her son had felt guilty about covering for Paul's son and confessed to his mom.) Paul was truly grieving that the trust between him and his son had been broken. He went to his bedroom to pray for God's help, and then it hit him…Because of his love, God had already begun a work of rescue in his son's life. “Now, rather than wanting to rip into my son,” Paul wrote, “I wanted to be part of what this God of grace was doing in this moment.” After giving his son a couple of hours to relax upon his return, Paul asked if they could talk. "Do you ever think about how much God loves you?" Paul asked his son. "Sometimes," he answered. "Do you ever think how much God's grace operates in your life every day?" His son looked up but didn't speak. "Do you know how much God's grace was working in your life this weekend?" "Who told you?" his son asked. “Son, you have lived your life in the light. You've made good choices. You've been an easy son to parent, but this weekend you took a step toward the darkness. You can live in the dark if you want. You can learn to lie and deceive. You can use your friends as your cover…or you can choose to live in God's light. I'm pleading with you: don't live in the darkness; live in the light." "As I turned to walk away," Paul says, "I heard his voice from behind me saying, 'Dad, don't go…I want to live in the light. Will you help me?'" [Paul David Tripp, Forever: Why You Can't Live Without It (Zondervan, 2011), pp. 151-153]
What a beautiful story to illustrate Christ’s love for us! Can you imagine Paul turning down his son once he said, “Dad, don’t go…I want to live in the light. Will you help me?” I can’t, nor can I imagine Jesus our Advocate and Helper who has called us out of the darkness and into the light, would say anything but “Yes, I love you and want to help.” We can see man’s capacity to love, but the love of Christ goes further than anything we can imagine. Seek out the love of Christ and place your faith in Him.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
The apostle tells us the love of Christ is too great to fully understand, but we can begin to understand His love by placing our faith in Christ. We can pray so that we might begin to know him. Christians can pray to have a closer fellowship with Him and grow in their knowledge of Him. On this side of heaven if may be impossible to fully understand the love of Christ. However, here on earth we can receive the grace of God granted to us by Jesus Christ, which brings us closer to God and Christ.
One weekend, author Paul Tripp gave his teenage son permission to spend the weekend at a friend's house. But during the weekend Paul got a call from the friend's mother, telling him that his son was not at her home. (Her son had felt guilty about covering for Paul's son and confessed to his mom.) Paul was truly grieving that the trust between him and his son had been broken. He went to his bedroom to pray for God's help, and then it hit him…Because of his love, God had already begun a work of rescue in his son's life. “Now, rather than wanting to rip into my son,” Paul wrote, “I wanted to be part of what this God of grace was doing in this moment.” After giving his son a couple of hours to relax upon his return, Paul asked if they could talk. "Do you ever think about how much God loves you?" Paul asked his son. "Sometimes," he answered. "Do you ever think how much God's grace operates in your life every day?" His son looked up but didn't speak. "Do you know how much God's grace was working in your life this weekend?" "Who told you?" his son asked. “Son, you have lived your life in the light. You've made good choices. You've been an easy son to parent, but this weekend you took a step toward the darkness. You can live in the dark if you want. You can learn to lie and deceive. You can use your friends as your cover…or you can choose to live in God's light. I'm pleading with you: don't live in the darkness; live in the light." "As I turned to walk away," Paul says, "I heard his voice from behind me saying, 'Dad, don't go…I want to live in the light. Will you help me?'" [Paul David Tripp, Forever: Why You Can't Live Without It (Zondervan, 2011), pp. 151-153]
What a beautiful story to illustrate Christ’s love for us! Can you imagine Paul turning down his son once he said, “Dad, don’t go…I want to live in the light. Will you help me?” I can’t, nor can I imagine Jesus our Advocate and Helper who has called us out of the darkness and into the light, would say anything but “Yes, I love you and want to help.” We can see man’s capacity to love, but the love of Christ goes further than anything we can imagine. Seek out the love of Christ and place your faith in Him.
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