May 19, 2025 // Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 14:21-26

Reflect on the Word //

Through the past three years I’ve returned repeatedly to a video of my son who drowned in a tragic accident. The audio is his voice pondering the goodness in his life which he knows he can’t deserve. My love for him urges me to listen  repeatedly to his voice and work out how I can best honor his memory, how to both let him go and hold him near.

When Jesus knows the time is near for His crucifixion, he tells his disciples, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23). My love for Jesus calls me beyond merely revisiting and remembering His words. I want to listen to the timbre of his voice, hear the ring of truth in His message, see the light in His eyes.

What can it mean to keep His Word? My love for Jesus compels me to return to His Word repeatedly and ponder the goodness, beauty and truth I find there. That is certainly one way of keeping His Word.

But, there’s more. When I keep my word,  I do what I say I will do, even if obstacles interfere or it becomes harder than I imagined it could be.  It follows that if I want to keep His Word, I must do what He says. I must pray as He prays, love like He loves, lay down my life for sinners, obediently take up my cross and follow Him. As I die moment by moment to my selfish ways, and make myself a gift to others, Jesus and our Father keep their promise to dwell with me. Amazingly, the Holy Spirit is mine too, as a teacher and guide who, in case I forget, reminds me of what Jesus said (see John 14:26).

His intimate promise is not just for a few friends, but for everyone who keeps His word. Oh, how He longs for us to fully share in the love that flows between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

Relate to the Lord // Contemplate: What does Jesus’ voice sound like? What do you see when you look in His eyes?