Lincoln Brewster - OxygenSample

For Us

Devotional for the song "On Our Side"

Have you ever had an enemy? Maybe you haven't, but if so you're in a very, very small minority. The rest of us are all too familiar with that someone who was against us at every turn, who seemed intent on doing whatever was necessary to make sure we did not succeed. And truth be told, they may still be at it.

That enemy may have a laundry list of reasons why they're against you. Some of those reasons might be rooted in fact, while others are surely birthed in fantasy. But for whatever reasons, the result is a cloud that blocks the sunshine in your life.

Have you ever had an advocate? Have you had someone who was for you in every way, who championed your cause, and believed in you no matter what? Maybe it was a parent or a friend or a boss. If you've ever had such a person in your life, it is impossible to forget them. The fact that they were on your side binds their heart to yours in a way that transcends time and distance.

Do you believe God is your advocate? Do you trust that God is on your side, that He's for you? Or how about this – do you believe God is on our side, as in humanity's side? That in the face of everything from cancer to hurricanes to bankruptcy to wildfires to church scandals to school bullying, that God really cares, and that's not just lip service found in the pages of a book written a long, long time ago?

The apostle John had a close relationship to Jesus that seemed different from that of the other disciples. In fact, in a surprising line John describes himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." That sounds almost arrogant, doesn't it? It does, unless it is true. And the disciple so loved by Jesus wrote in his first letter that "we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the righteous One." That's right, he used the word "advocate."

And furthermore, John didn't say "I" have an advocate, but that "we" do. That means you and me. We have an advocate, One who is for us. Yes, God is on our side, so much so that we, like John, can describe ourselves as "the ones Jesus loves."

Simply amazing! That sounds almost arrogant, huh? But it's true.