Unconditional LOVE - Luke 3:21-23; John 1:19-31;Matthew 4:1-11

“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21)

One day Jesus went to see John, who was busy baptising people in the Jordan River. John looked up and instantly knew that Jesus was the one the world had been waiting for. When Jesus was baptised, LOVE couldn’t keep quiet and shouted out from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I LOVE; with you I am well pleased”. With you. It was a public message but a personal one too. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit as he understood that before doing a single thing, he already had his heavenly father’s total approval. No need to try and earn it, no terms and conditions to fulfil, no level of performance to attain.

Those who follow Christ are in Christ and baptised as Christ was baptised. We may hear these same words applying to us. LOVE surely likes it when we do good things, but LOVE loves us unconditionally, long before we do anything. There’s nothing we can do to earn God’s pleasure. We don’t need to. We have it already.

After Jesus’ baptism, weak from loneliness and hunger, he faced three temptations that every human knows all too well: make yourself wealthy; become a celebrity; and exercise power over others. To defeat these demons, Jesus chose LOVE’s word as his only weapon. The devil always tries to get us to doubt what LOVE really said. Jesus knew better. And so must we.

We’ve got to know LOVE’s word not just in an abstract intellectual way but to deeply trust it in an intimate relational way. LOVE has promised to save us, provide all our needs, cause us to flourish and fill us with power. Never doubt that, and we’ll never go looking for it from anyone or anything else.

As we pray today let’s ask LOVE for the gift of faith – a deep trust in LOVE’s word and a deep knowledge of it. We may need to ask LOVE to cause us to hunger for him more. Take a moment to name in prayer all the things you feel tempted by, asking LOVE for the strength to resist them and to remain focussed on LOVE and LOVE’s ways alone. Where we have failed to do that, let’s immediately turn back to LOVE, admitting what we’ve done and asking for a new start free from guilt and shame. We can be sure that if we do that, LOVE will forgive and cleanse us – this is a rock-solid promise that we can trust (1 John 1:9).

“Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me Satan! For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”’ Then the devil left him, and angels came and
attended him.” (Matthew 4:10-11)