Today’s Thought “Adopted Children” G. Ward

John 13

³⁴ I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”

 

At the cusp of His crucifixion, our Lord would compel a deepest contemplation unto His disciples regarding all He said and did. It embodied genuine servitude and the personal cost would include an imminent death and whereas HE alone is Redeemer, His requirement for any following thereafter would have that same implication (*Matt.16:24). Christ knew the road ahead for those same followers would entail a constant persecutorial agitation from the same oppositional forces He encountered, so as a doting mother, He sought to assure those closest to Him that it would be necessary to spread love among the brethren (this was a prefacing to attract outsiders unto a perfect message of reconciliation Christ provided, along with being masterful encouragement for believer’s perseverance to know HE never abandons – John 14:16-18).

This most excellent message remains a living word, promoting productivity in dispelling Truth as HE builds us for His purpose. Do any know you accordingly?