Dec. 30
LOVED TO PERFECTION
"Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto
the end" John 13:1
This fact is essentially a promise; for what our Lord was He is,
and what He was to those with whom He lived on earth, He will be to
all His beloved so long as the moon endureth.
"Having loved": here was the wonder! That He should ever have loved
men at all is the marvel. What was there in His poor disciples that He
should love them? What is there in me?
But when He has once begun to love, it is His nature to continue to
do so. Love made the saints "his own" -- what a choice title! He
purchased them with blood and they became His treasure. Being His own,
He will not lose them. Being His beloved, He will not cease to love
them. My soul, He will not cease to love thee!
The text is well as it stands: "to the end," even till His death
the ruling passion of love to His own reigned in His sacred bosom. It
means also to the uttermost. He could not love them more: He gave
Himself for them. Some read it, to perfection. Truly He lavished upon
them a perfect love, in which there was no flaw nor failure, no
unwisdom, no unfaithfulness, and no reserve.
Such is the love of Jesus to each one of His people. Let us sing to
our Well-beloved a song.