Jessica Albritton, Family Connections Minister, LHBC
Ephesians 3:14-19
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
The other week at church I was standing near the back of the worship area as the sermon was wrapping up. We were moving into a time of prayer and response when I saw out of my peripheral a dad holding a sleeping kiddo. But the dad wasn’t just holding his 2 year old son, he was beholding him, staring intently into the child’s face. The father appeared to be studying him, taking in every feature of him. As I took in the scene all time seemed to stand still and I could physically feel the deep seated, overwhelming, indescribable love that the father had for his son.
Now I know this father and son personally and know for a fact the kid knows he is loved by his daddy but in that moment I thought to myself, he doesn’t even know just how much he is loved. That boy is loved so deeply and he doesn’t even have a concept of the depth. And then it hit me, God’s still small voice echoed through my head, “neither do you…”
Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus communicated the same idea. In chapter 3 he encouraged believers to have strength to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love. Paul wasn’t insinuating the church didn’t know of Christ’s love for believers, he’s simply saying the church didn’t understand the magnitude of that love. To know Christ loves you is one thing but to know just how much is another thing entirely. God’s love for us is mind-blowing and doesn’t make sense. God’s love is unconditional and unwavering. God’s love for us is what compelled Him to send His one and only Son to the cross to take the punishment for your sin and mine. It’s undeserved, unrelenting, deep seated, overwhelming, and indescribable. And what’s even crazier is we can’t earn the love so freely given. In fact, we can do a pretty good job of being undeserving but still God loves us in that kind of way.
God’s love is not contingent on us, it’s not based on merit or good behavior, and it’s not comparable to any other love we have ever known. Romans 8 tells us that there is nothing we, or anyone else, can do to separate us from that love. Yet so often we are like that sleeping kiddo, knowing we are loved but being completely unaware of just how much. Friend, you are so loved, loved by the author and sustainer of life. Because of Him you have value and worth and purpose. Do you comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of it all?
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Heavenly Father, I pray to know the breadth and length and height and depth of Your love for me! I pray I am reminded of just how much I am loved. And I pray I can exude that love to others. May I never sleep on that fact. May I look toy You and You alone for my value, worth, and purpose. In Jesus name, amen!
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK
1 Samuel 12:24
Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.