This is the first Sunday of the new year. So far this year I have written about goals and about inspiration that came from my daughter and her friends. Now come something new. I am committing to Sunday being the day of inspiration from Scripture.
As a Christian and believer in The Lord Jesus Christ it is so important to incorporate the truth and Spirit of Scripture into all of my life. I have been reading through the Bible every year for the past decade. It’s fairly easy. You read the Old Testament in nine months and the New Testament in 3 months. The Old Testament read 3 chapters any days that end in 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8. The Old Testament read 4 chapters any days that end in 3, 6, 9, 0. In the New Testament read 3 chapters 8 days and 2 chapters on the ninth day.
So today is Scripture day and the Scripture today is John 3:16. That’s right…the best known scripture in the Bible. It is the scripture reference you always see in the end zone of the Super Bowl and other football games:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NIV)
So what is so inspiring about this verse? Why do so many people identify with these 26 words and find them to be life-changing and inspirational? I could go very in-depth and spend many pages in this quest. However, that is not my focus at this point. I just want the words to speak for themselves. So what do those words say?
God loves the world…That’s right God loves! Whom does He love? The World! There was a point many years ago now when I realized that God was personal and that the world was filled with persons. I just happened to be one of those personal persons and so …God didn’t just love the world as a conglomerate but He loved me. That was a tremendous time of transformation in my life.
…gave his one and only Son…So this Son is a gift. What is a gift? A gift is by definition something that is not earned. A gift is something that is not deserved. A gift may be something that is not even desired. Yet, a gift is something that on some level is needful. This gift is also special in that there is only one of these. This is not one among many but special and unique. Some look at that with disgruntled rejection. I do understand that some think is unfair to only have one possibility to get to God the Creator. That is one way to see it. It is an American way to see it. We want choices. Yet there is another way to look at this statement. There is a way to God. There didn’t have to be even one way but there is a way.
…whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life…This goes with what I just wrote. Eternal life is a gift that is received and actuated by belief. It is a specific belief in the specific gift. So why is all of this inspiring? Because that which was estranged is now restored. That which was broken is now whole. That which was never even dared hoped for is now reality
Even for those who find this passage or Christian belief in general offensive or exclusionary I hope you can at least appreciate the reality of inspiration we draw from this verse who do believe.
May the blessing of God be upon all who read this post.