Wed., 3/23/16 Devotion (Jn. 13:35)

Today's encouragement comes from John 13:35, where our Lord Jesus said this:

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (ESV)

The distinguishing mark of the followers of Jesus is love; not knowledge, un-derstanding of doctrine, the skill to parse Greek words, or the ability to spell "presbyterian." The world (rightly) cares nothing about any of these things. God has so constituted human nature, that the only great magnet to the church is the love of the saints for one another, which flows from their undying affection for, and loyalty to their Redeemer, the Lord Jesus.

Let us abandon all the fleshly and failed means of "church growth"; and com-mit ourselves to the Messiah's simple formula: "Love one another, and all the world will know that you belong to Me."

[Puritan quote of the day: "A godly man loves God and therefore delights to be in His presence; he loves God and therefore takes comfort in nothing with-out Him.” —Thomas Watson, in, "The Godly Man's Picture"]