And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.

Devotion based on Ephesians 3:17-19

Ten-year-old Aiden loved everything about the ocean, as anyone who met him would know.

“Did you know that the earth’s oceans are just one huge body of water covering seventy-one percent of our planet?” Aiden would ask out of nowhere. “That’s one hundred thirty-nine million square miles!”

“My favorite is the Pacific Ocean. It’s massively huge! The biggest thing on the planet—bigger than all the continents put together! And it’s incredibly deep. The average is maybe twelve thousand feet, but there’s this place called the Mariana Trench, and the guy who made the Titanic movie went down there in a submersible and made videos, and it was seven miles down! It’s so cool!”

If you let him, Aiden could talk for hours about his passion. But here’s the thing: Aiden’s family lived far from the coast, and he had never visited the ocean in person. He never experienced its vastness or heard its waves. Instead, he soaked up every book and video from the library that would reveal more details about his favorite subject.

The apostle Paul was just as passionate in the way he talked about Jesus Christ. He wanted others to share his love and to discover what a wonderful Savior we have in Jesus. Unlike Aiden and the ocean, though, Paul did personally encounter Jesus. He knew his love firsthand. Previously, Paul had been violently persecuting Christians, dragging them to prison. But Jesus had mercy on him, forgave him, and called him to proclaim his saving grace to the world.

The love that Christ has for you is more than you can ever fully know. You can spend a lifetime exploring its heights and depths and never reach its limits. But it is worth the investment of your time. Join with the rest of God’s people who share this passion in learning what it means to be loved by him.

Prayer:

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