We love Him because He first loved us.

The children, dressed in their cute school uniforms, coming from broken families, suffering from all sorts of abuse, and living in families practicing ancestral worship, stood there singing “O, how I love Jesus.”

A couple of years ago, I had the privilege to attend a Bible study graduation event at a school in South Africa. The moment I described above will forever be etched into my memory. Before they received their illustrated Bibles and certificates, the kids sang “O, how I love Jesus.”

The auditorium was packed with several hundred of them. They sang with passion and joy. Tears came to my eyes when I heard them sing “O, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me.” Even now, when thinking about that moment, weighted in sacred majesty, my eyes get wet.

Why did that stir my soul so deeply? Because that simple song expressed the most profound truth imaginable. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Before they learned to love Him, God first loved those South African school children. He reached out to them, cutting through the darkness in their lives with His grace. Given the problematic background of these kids, you’d not be surprised if they swore, cursed, or fought. Yet, they sang about the love of Jesus. So perfectly, so earnestly.

Jesus filled their young, vulnerable hearts with His love. As I watched them, my heart swelled with gratitude. It’s not me who loved Jesus in the first place. On the contrary, I was His enemy by nature. Still, He reached out to me with His love and saved me. Thank You, Jesus, for Your wonderful love!

Friends, have you experienced the love of Christ already? Or have you maybe lost it, caught as you are in the middle of life’s troubles? Today, Jesus is here to offer you His love. Just as He reached out to these South African school children, He reaches out to you. His love will never fail you.

Why don’t you just join their song?
There is a name I love to hear,
I love to sing it’s worth;
it sounds like music in my ear,
the sweetest name on earth.
O, how I love Jesus,
because He first loved me!

By Anton de Vreugd, Bible League International staff, the Netherlands