God’s Neon Sign

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him."
1 John 4:9 (ESV)

I read about three boys who snuck into a confessional one afternoon to prank the priest. They took turns "confessing" sins and crimes they never committed just to see how he would react. Two escaped in a hurry, laughing the whole way. The priest caught the third boy, pretended to take him seriously, and handed out a real penance. 

He told him to walk to the front of the church, look the figure of Jesus on the cross in the face, and say three times, "You did all that for me, and I don't give that much," and snap his fingers on "that." The young boy managed it the first two times. On the third, he couldn’t get the words out. He broke down in tears, gave his life to Christ, and left that church a changed kid. The archbishop who told that story ended it with one line. "The reason I know that story is that I was that young man."

It's one thing to say, "God is love." It's another to ask how you know God loves you. Plenty of people question whether God loves anybody at all, with tragedies, earthquakes, floods, hunger, war, and disease making you doubt it. People look at it all and ask, “How could God be loving?”

Amazingly, the Bible only offers one piece of evidence on this side of the ledger, but it's just as historical, just as real, and just as tangible as anything on the other side. That evidence is the cross of Jesus Christ.

The word "manifest" in today's verse literally means to come out in the open, to make a public demonstration of. The cross is God's flashing neon sign that He loves you. God has not just told you He loves you; He has shown you. The cross doesn't just define what true love is; it demonstrates what true love does.

Next time you start doubting, do what that boy did. Picture yourself standing at the cross, and say out loud, "You did all that for me, and I didn't give that much." Let it sink in how much He gave and how little you've given back,

Whatever is making you doubt God's love today, the cross already settled the question, and it settled it in your favor.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the cross where You not only told me You loved me, You showed me. Help me see what You’ve done and never doubt Your sincere and sacrificial love. I want all of my heart to know and all of my life to reflect Your undeniable love. In Jesus' name, Amen.