Recently, I had a health assessment as part of my renewed effort at better health. I received a blood test. My heart rate and blood pressure were checked. I was hooked up to a device that checked my use of oxygen as I breathe. There was no doubt. I am alive! That’s how we know, isn’t it? If you are breathing and your heart is beating, you are alive. These are signs of life.

In verses 5-6 of 2 John, the apostle John wrote this: “I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” Breathe out: the command is to love one another. Breathe in: love means keeping his command. How do we know if we are alive? Like blood circulating in a healthy body or the steady rhythm of breathing, it is love. Love is what matters. Without it, are we really alive? With it – that is, with the love of God through Jesus Christ moving in and through me – not only am I alive, but the world around me is drawn closer to the source of life itself.

Verse 2: “the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever.” To be fully alive, love.

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 37-39; Psalm 79; 2 John