John 3:16 For Children

Scripture: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV) One of my favorite Bible verses begins, "For God so loved the world." I was thinking about that verse and wondering -- just how great is God's love and how could we measure it? This morning I brought several things that we often use in measuring other things. I thought they might help us measure God's love.  Sometimes we use a measuring cup to measure things. This morning I was making a Snickerdoodle Cobbler for lunch, I used a measuring cup to make sure that I put in exactly the right amount of flour, sugar, and milk. I wondered if we might use a measuring cup to measure God's love? The Bible says, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want....my cup runneth over." (Psalm 23:1,5) Well, if our cup runs over with God's love, I don't guess we could use a measuring cup to measure it.  If we were building something, we might use a tape measure to measure the length, width, and height of different things. I wonder if we might use a tape measure to measure God's love? The Bible tells us that God's love is higher than the heavens. (Psalm 108:4) If God's love is higher than the heavens, I don't think we could use a tape measure to measure it, could we?  We use a watch to measure time. There will probably be some people here this morning who will use their watch to measure how long the pastor's sermon lasts. I wonder if we could use a watch to measure how long God's love will last. The Bible tells us that God's love is from everlasting to everlasting. (Psalm 103:17) Wow! If God's love is from everlasting to everlasting, I don't guess we could measure it with a watch.  "For God so loved the world, that he gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." How do you measure a love like that? We can't measure it -- we don't need to -- but we do need to experience it.  My hope for you today is, "That you may understand how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience it, though it is so great you will never fully understand it." (Ephesians 3:18-19)