

"My song is love unknown, my Savior's love to me, Love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be. Oh, who am I that for my sake my Lord should take frail flesh and die!
"Here might I stay and sing, no story so divine! Never was love, dear King, never was grief like Thine. This is my Friend, in whose sweet praise I all my days could gladly spend!"
Many people acknowledge the idea of a god. They may give that god a name or, like the people of ancient Athens, they may be content to honor an "unknown god" (see Acts 17:23). According to popular opinion, this unknown god is thought to be kind to people who do what is good or at least try to be good.
God is not unknown to us. The true God, the only God, revealed Himself to us in His Word and in the Person of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Our hymn celebrates the God we know, whose love is like nothing we have ever known before. It is the love that brought our Lord to earth to "take frail flesh and die." Jesus did not wait for people to become good or to follow all the rules. Jesus died for sinners! What God would do such a thing? By God's grace through faith, we see this astonishing love revealed at the cross of Jesus. The world had never seen such love—that God the Son would endure the grief and suffering of the cross, offering Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all people. Instead of first demanding our love or requiring us to earn His favor, the love of God is "love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be."
Created anew through faith in Christ Jesus, we are "lovely," that is, righteous, in the sight of God. Our sins are washed away in Jesus' blood and now, as the apostle John explains, "We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). We are called to walk in love as Christ walked, to forgive as we have been forgiven. Through works of love and words of witness, we reflect the astonishing love of God in the world. It is love that is no longer unknown. It is the love of God revealed in the sacrificial love of the cross, in the victory of Jesus' resurrection, and in the promise of eternal life. We sing the praise of our God and King, who is now well-known to us: "This is my Friend, in whose sweet praise I all my days could gladly spend."
WE PRAY: Dear King, I will spend all my days in praise of Your steadfast love. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, "My Song Is Love Unknown," which is number 430 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
1. Can you name some things that are like "gods" in people's lives?
2. How does Jesus' love for you inspire you to love others?
3. Can our works of love help point others to Jesus? How so?
Today's Bible Readings: 1 Samuel 24-27 Luke 23:1-25
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