Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: John 17 and Psalm 33

As we make our way through Holy Week, we skip ahead to John 17 today and are supremely privileged to overhear Jesus at prayer. In love for His disciples, He prays for them (v.6-19), and, in love for all those who will believe in Him through their witness, He prays also for us (v.20-26). What a stupendous honour. He prayed for you in that upper room.

But our attention in this devotion falls on verses 1-5 as Jesus begins His prayer time with an acknowledgment that His hour has come to complete His final act of obedience to the Father’s will. He celebrates that He has finished the work the Father gave Him to do, and that, by doing so, He has brought glory to the Father and has given “eternal life” to those the Father gave Him.

Jesus then leaves us with absolute treasure in v.3. He defines what He means by “eternal life” in this way:

³ Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

“Eternal life” consists of our relational, experiential knowledge (i.e. ginṓskō) of God. When we live in a deep and intimate relationship with our Saviour Jesus, He brings us into a deep, intimate relationship with God the Father, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (we’ll come back to this when we cover John 14). This deeply intimate relationship with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, enriches one’s life and infuses one with a truly eternal abundance of life. In a nutshell, “eternal life” is a quality of life which flows out of our relationship with God and continues forever! And Jesus has given us the free gift of “eternal life” through our faith in Him.

Life Application: Give God thanks today for the wondrous gift of eternal life, and strive to live each moment in a conscious awareness of the riches of his life within you.