I Will Not Leave You As Orphans

Devotion for Thursday January 25, 2018

Topic: I Will Not Leave You As Orphans 

Text: John 14:18 – 21                                        

When someone dear to you is leaving or parting from you, even temporarily, it is always emotional and it is even more disheartening when it is at the point where you have just started knowing each other, and have started enjoying the relationship. I still remember my last service as a Catechist at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Adonte. It was an emotional service. Tears flowed like a river. Even the Lay Reader who handled the church before I came did not hide his emotions as he wept openly during the service. I was the first Catechist and I served only 6 months. I left when they were beginning to enjoy my ministry.

Jesus had just been with the disciples for three years and now He was leaving. What do you think will be the feelings of His disciples who left everything to follow Him? Jesus knew what will be in their minds and thus He promises that He would continue to take care of them saying, “I will not leave you orphans.”

God’s care for us is continuous. Just as Jesus did not end His care for them but continued even after His death and resurrection, so His care for us will continue. We know that every year, people try to improve on what they were the previous year and so God will also improve on what He did for you last year. However, it depends on our love for Him and His word. The evidence of our love for Christ is obedience to His laws. Where sincere love to Christ is in the heart, there will be obedience. Love will be a commanding, constraining principle; and where love is, duty follows from a principle of gratitude. Sing A&M 399 with emphasis on Stanza 2

Food for Thought: God is able to keep and care for all those who entrust their lives to His care and protection.

Memory verse: John 14:18

Prayer: God, I rededicate myself and family to your care and protection this year. Grant us the grace to love and keep your commandments.