Most Beloved Savior, I am grateful that You willingly offered Your life in exchange for mine. How do I know You went through Your passion because of Your love for me? I know it because You said You did!! In Your Word You explained that no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for a friend. And then Your declared I was Your friend if I did what You commanded. It’s hard to contemplate a love that gives up itself to save another. How comforting and reassuring it is to be called Your friend. I do not think I could go through all that You went through to prove my love. That is why I need Your help in giving aid, encouragement, and a listening ear to those in need. I know that when I think I’ve given all, You are expecting me to give a little more. As my Lord, I owe You unqualified obedience in return for the pain I caused You to endure. Obedience is a small sacrifice in comparison to what You endured for me.
You chose to love and die for me so that I could be set free from the power of sin and live with You forever. I now have a choice to accept or reject Your offer. I should never forget that without Your choice, I would have no choice to make. You called me to Yourself when You said “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved You. Now remain in my love.” As a result, I must diligently strive each day to keep my problems from getting in the way of my love and devotion to You. Your Father, through the Holy Spirit, gave You strength to endure all that You had to go through … I am counting on You to give me the strength I need to endure the testing and trials I face. In other verses, You described Yourself as a Shepherd saying, “I am the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep.” You were not only describing a job but, instead, You spoke of Your commitment to lay down You life for my sake.
In the book of Mark, You described Your mission when You said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life in ransom for many.” A ransom is the price paid to release one who has been captured or enslaved. You paid the ransom to redeem me because I could not pay it myself. Your death released me from the shackles of sin and allowed me to step outside of its shadow. You were assigned as the Father’s back-up plan for when the price became too much for me to pay. He raised You from the dead to give me the hope I would need to persevere in my own struggles. Your Father loved You deeply but, for the sake of my soul, He made You a ransom for me. As His most treasured, He was willing to send You to make a way for me to spend eternity with Him, You, and the Holy Spirit. As a result, I commit my undying love to You forever. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
John 15:13 Greater love has no one man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend. You are my friends if you do what I command.