Keep Yourselves in His Love

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love." (John 15:9 NIV)
"But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." (Jude v20)

Two encouragements from different New Testament writers, both with the same desire, that we would stay in love. Not the romantic love we so often associate with those words "I'm in love" but the unconditional love of the Father expressed to us through Jesus and brought to us by the Holy Spirit. 

In Ephesians 3, Paul shows us that it is really possible for us to be planted in love. Rooted and established in love or as the Passion Translation says we 'discover the resting place of his love'. 

The Father's love is the source of our life. It is the thing that sustains us when things are not easy. It's our response to his love which causes us to seek him and walk in his ways. This is the path of life. The gospel is the good news of love. It was the Father's love for us that caused him to send his son to the world, to take our sin and to provide the way for us to come back home. That's the free gift we all benefit from for there is nothing that we need to repay. 

The exhortation of these two verses is simple: remain in his love. It's so easy to wander off and feel distant, to try and replace our distance with works or well-intentioned activity. As the old hymn says: "There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God; There is a place of comfort sweet, near to the heart of God; There is a place of full release, near to the heart of God". I join the New Testament writers and encourage you to remain in his love!