Dec. 30
Charles Spurgeon · Faith's Checkbook
LOVED TO PERFECTION
"Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the
end" John 13:1
This fact is essentially a promise; for what our Lord was He is, and
what He was to those with whom He lived on earth, He will be to all His
beloved so long as the moon endureth.
"Having loved": here was the wonder! That He should ever have loved men
at all is the marvel. What was there in His poor disciples that He
should love them? What is there in me?
But when He has once begun to love, it is His nature to continue to do
so. Love made the saints "his own" -- what a choice title! He purchased
them with blood and they became His treasure. Being His own, He will
not lose them. Being His beloved, He will not cease to love them. My
soul, He will not cease to love thee!
The text is well as it stands: "to the end," even till His death the
ruling passion of love to His own reigned in His sacred bosom. It means
also to the uttermost. He could not love them more: He gave Himself for
them. Some read it, to perfection. Truly He lavished upon them a
perfect love, in which there was no flaw nor failure, no unwisdom, no
unfaithfulness, and no reserve.
Such is the love of Jesus to each one of His people. Let us sing to our
Well-beloved a song.