Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Love

Valentine's Day is just around the corner... huge red hearts hang in every store window. Pink & white heart-shaped candies line every grocery store shelf. Beautifully decorated cardboard mailboxes await every school-aged child, and over the next two days, little love notes will pass from one hand to another (along with a wink and a smile!). Florists will stay open late to assemble bouquets of lovely garden delights, and folks will scramble aimlessly in search of that perfect little gift.

But what is love exactly??

Oh, ask any joe on the street and he'll gladly pass along his own thoughts on the subject. Check with our favorite Merriam Webster and enjoy a whole litany of selections. Or... consult your favorite Hallmark store-- you're sure to find oodles of eye-opening definitions there!

But are any of these even close to the real thing?? Will any of these avenues point to true LOVE? Oh, it's possible, I guess. But if you're interested-- this Valentine's Day-- in celebrating love in its truest form, you need only look to One.

Today, amidst the hustle and bustle of an extremely hectic household, I was gently reminded of this wonderful truth:

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8

Perfect love... given for us... almost 2000 years ago.
Now that's something to celebrate~

The Power of the Cross

Oh to see the dawn of the darkest day
Christ on the road to calvary
Tried by sinful men, torn and beaten then
Nailed to a cross of wood

This the pow'r of the cross
Christ became sin for us
Took the blame, bore the wrath
We stand forgiven at the cross

Oh to see the pain written on Your face
Bearing the awesome weight of sin
Ev'ry bitter thought, ev'ry evil deed
Crowning your bloodstained brow

Now the daylight flees, now the ground beneath
Quakes as its maker bows his head
Curtain torn in two, dead are raised to life
'Finished!' the vict'ry cry

Oh to see my name written in the wound
For through Your suf'fring I am free
Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live
Won through Your selfless love

This the pow'r of the cross
Son of God slain for us
What a life, what a cost
We stand forgiven at the cross

-- Stuart Townend & Keith Getty

1 comment:

gretchen said...

AMEN! AND AMEN! PRAISE GOD FOR HIS LOVE TOWARD US.