Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am. I want them to see my glory, the glory you have given me. You gave it to me because you loved me before the world was created.
John 17:24 (NIrV)
Lord Jesus, my heart this morning is moved some kind of way by those words, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am.” To think, You were about to lay down Your life – die a cruel death – and amongst the last words You pray in this glorious prayer is that You desire for me to be with You! Your heart’s desire was for me to experience You with an unveiled face, to see You as You truly are, beholding all Your glory, and to experience fully, without this cloak of sin, the love that is between You and the Father. It is this selfsame love that You have loved me!
I must confess I rarely see myself as a gift given to You by the Father. My focus more often than not is to see myself as a recipient of grace and undeserved favor. Though that is true, I downplay the love-significance of me being a gift to my Savior! And Your desire for me to be with You becomes an afterthought, a side benefit of my redemption. Yet, today I see that my redemption, my spiritual “cleaning up” is not just so that I can one day be sinless, it is because You love me so much that You want to spend eternity with me. And so You are purging the sin from me so that I might be able to be with You for eternity! You love me that much!
Thank You, Jesus, for loving me. I know I say that a lot, especially when I think about the price You paid. But rarely do I think about the fact that You did it because You want to be with me. I typically view it that You want a people who will worship You. Though You are worthy of worship, bound up in all of that is the fact that You want to be with us. You love us so much – love me so much – that You were willing to die so You could be with me for eternity! Because of this my soul falls before You and worship flows from my heart towards You! Worship is, Lord, the natural response of someone who is loved in the way that we are loved by our God! And my mind is blown, even now, when I realize that You call me, call us, Your brothers and sisters! We are children of the Father! And all because we are loved by You! “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)
So today I just want to say, “Thank You!” As I close this week out I just want to say thank You! Thank You, Lord for loving me, desiring me, dying for me, and living in me. Thank You!