The radio

God showed how much he loved us
by sending his one and only Son into the world
so that we might have eternal life through him.
(1 John 4:9)

I like to have the radio on when I’m in the kitchen, and last week my radio did something odd, and for some reason it would only tune to one station: Capital FM, a station where you can “check out the latest music, news and celebrity gossip”! This isn’t my usual station, but time was tight so I wasn’t about to go searching for another music device, so I went with it. And as I listened, something very unexpected happened, I started to worship!
 
Have you noticed how many popular songs are about love? Love is a theme that seems to come up in most types of music: the sacrifice of love, the pain of love lost, the joy of love found. Love is something that is core to our experience of being a human, and it’s no wonder that many musical artists feel inspired to write and sing about it. But as I listened to the lyrics of these songs (unable to sing along because I’d never heard them before!), I couldn’t help but notice that they could be describing my walk with Jesus. One spoke about limitless love, and that song could have been sung by Jesus as He shows us just how much He loves us. One talked about the pain of a love lost, and in it I could hear Jesus’ voice reminding me that I can never lose His love, even if sometimes it might feel like I have when I’ve wandered away from Him. One spoke of the sacrifices that would be given for love, and I wanted that to be true for me in how I love Jesus.
 
In 1 John 4 there is a wonderful passage all about love - “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God … God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love - not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins … if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us … God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them ... We love each other because he loved us first.”
 
Now there is a reason to sing about love. And how wonderful that Jesus can speak to us in all sorts of ways, the latest music on Capital FM included!
 
Prayer - Lord God, thank You for love, thank You for Your love for us, and the joy that we can know from loving You. Lord, please speak to us afresh today, whether that is through the Bible, the radio, music, a conversation, nature … however You might speak, help us to hear and know just how much You love us.  Amen.

Photo by Bruno Martins on Unsplash