Daily Devotion - January 23, 2024

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers…. Little children, let us not love with words or talk but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:16-18)

Local news reported on two brothers who decided to play on mounded sandbanks formed by the dredging that keeps our local river channel clear. When the young boys were late for dinner, a search began. 

Searchers found the younger brother unconscious — buried up to his shoulders in sand. He had stepped on a crust of sand hiding a large void formed by the dredging of wet sand from the river bottom. When the crust gave way, the boy fell in the void with its sand walls collapsing upon him. 

When he was roused to consciousness, rescuers frantically asked, “Where is your brother? The child replied: “I’m standing on his shoulders.”

With the sacrifice of his own life, the older brother had saved the life of the younger. With similar selflessness, Jesus, who is not ashamed to call himself our brother, saved us. We were rescued from the pit of our sin by standing on the sacrifice of our Brother — who gave his life that we might live!

He now calls us to honor his love by sharing it with others, not just with words but with deeds as selfless as his own.

Prayer: Lord, as I consider again what it means for you to have laid down your life for me, give me a fresh appreciation of your love. Then, fill my heart with your love to give me a renewed desire to tell and show the world your grace.