Love Worthy of Our Life - All Our Daily Bread Daily Devotionals for 2025

Bible in a Year : 1 Chronicles 16-18, John 7:28-53

Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
Matthew 16:25

Today's Scripture & Insight : Matthew 16:21-28

William Temple, a twentieth-century English bishop, once concluded a sermon to Oxford students with the words of the hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” But he cautioned against taking the song lightly. “If you mean [the words] with all your hearts, sing them as loud as you can,” Temple said. “If you don’t mean them at all, keep silent. If you mean them even a little, and want to mean them more, sing them very softly.” The crowd went quiet as everyone eyed the lyrics. Slowly, thousands of voices began to sing in a whisper, mouthing the final lines with gravity: “Love so amazing, so divine / Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

Those Oxford students understood the reality that believing in and following Jesus is a serious choice, because it means saying yes to a radical love that demands everything from us. Following Christ requires our entire life, our whole being. He plainly told His disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). No one should make this choice flippantly.

Yet, following Jesus is also the way to our deepest joy. Life with Him, we’ll discover, is the life we truly desire. It appears to be a great paradox. However, if we respond to God’s love, believe in Christ and relinquish our selfish, shortsighted demands, we’ll find the life our soul craves (v. 25).

By: Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray
What will believing in and following Jesus cost you? What will you gain?

Dear God, following You isn’t easy, but I want to give You my life and my all.