Devotional Reading from the Daily Common Lectionary: John 3: 16-21

Text: Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. (v. 17)

When I was a child the church that I grew up in gave us memory verses. John 3: 16 was among the first, if not the first.

I never have been good at memorizing things. I can remember small insignificant useless details in life experiences, but memory verses, lines in a play or even names, but that is a  different story. The bible verses that I have memorized have been those that spoke to my spirit. John 3:17 is one of them.

When I became a minister I realized that John 3: 16 is only half of God’s story, even though too many people would have you believe that it is the whole story.  John 3:16 doesn’t give us the “Why”;  Why did God send the Son?  “Why” is the most important life-changing thing that anyone can ever know! It is the reason that God does everything in this world. God sent the Son in order to save the world, broken though it is.

Martin Luther once wrote that God can carve the rotten wood and ride the lame horse. It’s not about being good enough but about God reaching out to us to save us from our self-destructive humanity. It is about God’s goodness, not ours. It is about God’s Grace rather than our works. Everything in Life is always first and foremost about God and what God is doing in this world, often in spite of us!

Lord, in this season of Advent preparation, help me to “get out of Your way” and into the flow of what You are doing in this world. Let me, in Your name and to Your glory, bind up the wounds of this world and be a healing balm to soothes broken spirits. Amen.