December 4

It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end. — John 13:1 BSB

"His own!" How sweet these words are! They speak of a close and sacred relationship. We belong to Christ, not merely as possessions, but in the ownership of love. "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price." The nail scars on His hands speak of the cost of our redemption. We are His own because the Father gave us to Him. “They were Yours, and You gave them to Me!” We are also His own because we voluntarily gave ourselves to Him when we became Christians, accepting His love and His claim over us.

This relationship is like the bond between close friends—deeply personal and beyond outside interference. All believers are Christ’s own, but each one of us has Christ entirely for ourselves as well. We share in His love communally, but individually, too. Just as the sun shines on every blade of grass and flower, each one can say, “The sun is mine.” Christ’s love is for His whole church, but even the smallest of us can say, “He is my Friend, my Savior, my Master.” We are Christ’s own, and all of Christ’s love and grace belong to us.