Today's Scripture: Ephesians 6:23-24
"Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible."
Man has long been infatuated with immortality.
Tales of the Fountain of Youth have been around for a long time, appearing in Greek literature as far back as the 5th century B.C. It is a mythical spring that, according to legend, restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters.
We probably most associate the Fountain of Youth with the explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who came to what is now Florida in 1513 looking for it. He never found it, though, as it doesn't exist. The spot where he supposedly landed in his qu UnderlineKeyboard shortcut Ctrl+Uest is now The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park in St. Augustine, Florida. So, it's actually a park, not a spring.
In Paul's closing salutation of his letter to the church at Ephesus, he speaks of a different kind of immortality. Although it is translated as "love incorruptible," he has in mind the corruption of death. Hence, a love incorruptible, or a love undying.
This is the kind of love we have for God in our relationship with him through our faith in Jesus.
But it doesn't stop there. Paul's blessing is that grace be upon those who love God with this undying love. Not that we receive grace only after we love God in this way, but that we receive the gift of grace which produces this undying love for God.
Then we live in that grace, experiencing it fresh and new each day. It becomes, not a vicious cycle, but a blessed cycle. We receive grace, which prompts an undying love for God, which blossoms as grace in our life, which fosters that love for God, which then grows as undying love, and on and on and on.
And then, and this may be the best part, it can be contagious. Your love for God can be so evident, so powerful that it has an impact on the life of someone else. It can influence them toward Christ so they receive the gift of grace, and begin to love God with an undying love.
And the cycle continues.
Think about it …
- Do you find love for God and grace in your life balanced, or is one more present than the other?
- Is your love for God that deep, undying love, or do you feel as if it comes and goes?
- How might you foster a tighter connection between God's expression of grace in your life and your love for him?
