“Look with wonder at the depth of the Father’s marvelous love that He has lavished on us! He has called us and made us His very own beloved children.” 1 John 3:1
“Those who are loved by God, let His love continually pour from you to one another, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7
Stop right there and take a moment to soak in these verses. Read them again. What do you see?
As I read through these chapters in 1 John this morning, I was overwhelmed by this flow of love.
We are lavished by the love of God. When I first began coming to church, a friend of mine was giving a message in which he really brought the word ‘lavished’ to the surface… in fact, it may have come out of this verse. It has since remained one of my favorite words. It is such a beautiful depiction of the abundance of this love; God’s love.
Though that could go in a whole different direction, I think that what stood out to me even more today is that the flow does not stop there. We are not lavished in His love just to continue collecting His love in a savings account for our entire lives. We are to be conduit of this love.
“Let His love continually pour from you to one another.”
We are asked to continually pour out the love that God has filled us with! What is the beauty in this? We will never run dry. God continues to lavish us in His love day after day, minute after minute. As we continually pour out His love, we are abundantly lavished by His great love.
But notice that we are asked to “let” love pour… We have a role to play in this flow of love. We are asked to be active participants in loving one another, and just as with light – though we are not the source of love, we are the vessels by which it is carried forward.
In fact, 1 John 4:9 says, “The light of God’s love shined within us when He sent His matchless Son into the world that we might live through Him.”
Upon acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives, the light of God’s love shines within us, that we may illuminate those around us in love.
Shine the light of His love. Let His love flow through you just as freely as you have received it today. You are being lavished day by day by a Well that will never run dry.
