Today is known in many Christian circles as "Maundy Thursday," with the word Maundy coming from the Latin word Mandatum or Mandate. It centers on the command Jesus gave to his disciples in the upper room that day to "love one another: just as I have loved you, so you should love one another" (John 13.34.)  Two chapters later Jesus addresses this same theme again, saying, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." (John 15.9-11)  In this latter section, Jesus connects joy to loving obedience. One of the things I struggle with in my life is the concept of joy - I know God has given me reason for joy, but I still struggle to experience joy as I believe He wants it for me. And the main reason for that, according to Jesus in John 15, has to do with my obedience or lack of obedience to God. Is He truly first in my life, so that my heart's desire and my actions show that? Oh for the grace to make that so!

Have a blessed Easter. Remember that he not only died for your sins, but he was also raised to life again as a promise that you too, through faith in Jesus, will one day experience the resurrection.