Advent Reader: Love Always Seeks the Other

John 1:10-13

This speaks of God who made the world and of His saving plan. It tells of the right to become children of God, a privilege given to those who receive the gospel and believe in His name. The world did not recognise Him. His own did not receive Him. Yet to those who believed there was a turning. There was grace. John hints here at what Jesus later tells Nicodemus. To be born again is not our doing. It is God’s work. It is not by natural descent, nor by human will. It is gift. It is identity. This is the heart of the gospel.

At Christmas we remember the Word who became flesh. We mark it. We rejoice in it. But we do not keep it to ourselves. Love always seeks the other. The Great Commission is not a burden first. It is a movement of the heart. We are God’s children. From that joy obedience begins to flow. As Jesus obeyed the Father and came to dwell with us, so we move toward our neighbour, not to win an argument, but to make room. We make room for the good news.

Jesus showed His love by taking up the cross. He rose and now sits at the right hand of the Father. Glory is revealed there. I am often moved by this, but I ask for more than a passing feeling. I ask for a small, concrete step. I want the life of the one who is born again to be seen in my ordinary day. I want to grow in the character of Christ. I want to learn His obedience and practise it. I want to keep going until the Lord calls me home. I long to taste the victory of the resurrection and to enter the feast of God.

So I begin where love always begins. I listen. I pray. I speak the name of Jesus with simplicity. Christmas is a gentle gift for this. Doors open more easily. Hearts are softer. This year I will ask for one person to carry in prayer. I will hold that name before the Father. I will look for a quiet moment. I will introduce Jesus not as an idea but as the One who calls us beloved. From that place I will walk on, one step at a time.