Meditations for the Time of the Virus

Life

"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4)

God loves life! This is one of the most basic truths, and it runs through every part of our faith. God loves life. He loved creating life: trees, plants and every green thing for us to enjoy; animals, birds, fish and every creeping thing; and mankind, Adam and Eve and every descendant on through the centuries since.

God loves life: and this is personal. He loved creating you, body and soul, blessing you with every breath and heartbeat. And the life He created as He formed you includes your thoughts, hopes, dreams, joys and every other part of your inner life. There are verses in Proverbs (8:30-31) that speak of all wisdom gathered together in Jesus: "then I was beside Him, like a master workman, and I was daily filled with delight, rejoicing before Him always, rejoicing in His inhabited world and delighting in the children of man." 

God loves life and delights in you being alive! If He did not -- would there be such wonders in the world around you, and such amazing things that happen deep within your soul? With each child born, when you came to be, God began to open up the wonders of creation to one more being. It is something like being a parent or grandparent, watching the wonder a child experiences discovering each new thing in their lives.

God loves life! And this is a thing to remember when we are in the middle of trouble. When God created mankind He blessed us. And He is not the one who turned away; we did. Adam and Eve turned from God who loves life, and followed the voice of the devil who brought them death.

So Jesus came into the world, and the Gospel of John said, "In Him was life." He came to bring life, to bring back and restore what we had lost. And the Gospel of John continues in chapter 2 with the wedding at Cana and Jesus turning water to wine. God loves life, and it shows in the life and character of Jesus. "In Him was life and the life was the light of men." All the way through, from water to wine, to "God so loved the world," to feeding the 5,000, healing the man born blind, to raising His friend Lazarus, to bringing the one thief on the cross into Paradise, to rising from the dead and inviting Thomas to touch and see, to inviting the disciples to share a meal on the beach (John 21) Jesus brings life, light and joy.

He is the same Jesus; and in the middle of our trouble He is the One who has life. Another part of good news, hope and light is this -- God does His work through His people, His human beings that He has delighted in creating. Doctors, scientists, and medical researchers are not alone in their work. Whether they know it or not, they have God Himself by their side blessing their work (and God's work) of healing and saving life. He is the light of the world.

As you turn to Jesus in prayer day after day, remember our doctors and nurses in your prayers. Pray that the light of God would shine through them, and that the light of Jesus would shine on them.

Lord Jesus, You are the light of the world and You are the light of my life. Shine the light of life on us: through doctors, nurses, researchers and medical researchers. Help them to develop treatments and to bring healing to the many thousands all over the world. Bless their work and speed their successes. And let us bring Your light to our neighbors, by caring and watching over one another. Amen. 
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