It is the time of year when even the youngest school age child tells most, if not all his classmates, that he loves them – “Be mine!” Not many adults truly believe the little cards with the cute verses on them, “Roses are red, Violets are blue, If I could marry anyone, it would have to be you!” But occasionally children will wholeheartedly believe the lines and become infatuated immediately.
My dad always told my brother and me that there were certain times of the year when a guy should not have a girl friend – Christmas, their birthday, and Valentine’s Day! It was simple math for him – girls cost money and these special days mean extra expenses! Staying away from girls at these times would mean you could afford more Friday and Saturday night hamburgers. I should have learned better!
Real love is not something that is celebrated only on special days! Love is truly the place where everything changes. It is the place for which we all long. It is the place where any and everything can be changed. It is the place where the mistakes are not just overlooked, but forgiven – the place where the sins of your past are forgiven. It is the place where fears and habits are finally overcome – where correction and discipline are always fair and effective – and where bondages are released forever. Love is the place where new strength and power replace weaknesses and failures and where we are accepted just as we are – regardless of the warts on our noses!
There is no place outside God’s loving arms that one can find such love! Once we experience God’s love in its fullness, we are changed. In that place, the impossible starts happenings. Long before the world was calendared for creation, God considered our eternal salvation a priority worthy of His Son’s sacrificial death. That is why Christmas and Easter are such big celebratory days in our Christian culture.
We live in the tensions of fallen humanity. Painfully we are sure that every shortcoming and imperfection will be recorded by all who know us. We are also sure that the records of our frailties and mistakes are recorded for God to save until the Day of Judgement. As a result, we do not know what God thinks about us personally. How do you envision God’s countenance registering approval or disapproval of you? Do you believe He is delighted or disappointed in who you are?
Often life feels like a game of musical chairs – just going around in circles trying hard to anticipate the music and grab your place in life. When the music stops abruptly, everyone is scurrying for the nearest chair. But there is always a catch – there is one less chair than people playing. Someone is left out each time the music stops, and another chair is removed for the next round of elimination. Too often, you end up the one without a place – again!
A lot of people feel like God is playing games with them with no rhyme, reason, or fairness. Every so often the music unexplainably stops and we have to try to beat some faster, bigger guy to the last chair. Even when we succeed, the music starts again and another round begins, not always ending successfully for us! No wonder we have a trust issue with God; no wonder some people do not like God very much.
Make no mistake; life is very unfair at times. But, we can not blame God for the unfairness! He did not create the world to be unfair. He did not design life to be unfair. It was sin’s entrance into the world and fallen people who brought all the unfairness and hurt! People are not fair most of the time; in fact, not one of us is always fair to others! God is fair every time and in every situation. God will always do right! He will always do right in every situation, even those that we can not understand. His love guarantees that he will always do right by us! His loving nature demands it!
If God were involved in our games of musical chairs, there would be more than enough chairs for everyone. No one would have to push another out of a spot for them to have one of their own. The music would never stop until we had found our place in His circle. The Apostle Peter said it this way: “The Lord is not really being slow about His promise to return, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent. But the Day of the Lord will come – as unexpectedly as a thief; so be ready.”
Valentine’s Day is a great time to think about what God thinks of us! When we know how much He cares, we will know how to trust Him in every situation of life. There was a song written in the 1980s that said God grew the tree that He knew would be the tree that became the Old Rugged Cross. That is how much He loves us!
When we know of God’s great love for us, then we not only trust Him, we expect Him to show His love to us, and we willingly give our allegiance to Him. We are willing to submit to His plan for our lives and give our reciprocal love to Him in service to others.
So from God to us, “Happy Valentine’s Day!” And from us to God, “Be mine!”
