December 14

John speaks words of truth with the tenderness that comes from having been the disciple whom Jesus loved. Of course, the Lord loved them all, but John was more sensitive to that love. He felt it more than the others did and he cherished it with a fervency that few among those who follow—then or now—can feel.

Because of his profound awareness of the love of Christ, John’s life was a clear reflection of Jesus. Whether he was a young man who desired to sit at His right hand when He came into His Kingdom or whether he was an old man who was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos, his every thought was directed toward being a living epistle of the Lord he loved in return.

In I John 3: 23, 24 the beloved Apostle writes, “This is God’s commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He says. Anyone who keeps His commandments dwells in Him and He in them. This we know by His Spirit within us.”

The concept of abiding is an essential one to believers in Christ because one of His foundational promises to those who lay their lives at His feet is that He will abide in them. Because He will never fail or forsake the people who love Him (Hebrews 13:5), it behooves us to live as we are—precious in the beloved.