“Some people care too much, I think it’s called love” ~Winnie the Pooh
After talking of how I am stingy with saying, “I love you,” the impression on my heart has been that someone needs to know they are loved. Maybe you are the one who is generally the encourager. Maybe you are the one who keeps contact with family and friends. Maybe, at this very minute, you are saying a silent prayer of, “Just someone please show me that you care!” Continue reading.
A favorite story has been the parable of the lost son in Luke 15:
17“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ 20So he got up and went to his father.
”But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.‘ “
This story tells of how the father’s love was always waiting. The love was not dependent on how the child behaved. It was not dependent on what the child said. It just simply was. The father came running to his son. He did not look at what the child was, but what he knew the child could be. Oh, the love of our Heavenly Father … to love us in spite of what we have done, loving all the while as we strive to become what He wants us to be.
God has shown time and again throughout the Bible that He is always right there with us.
Held In His Hand
He longs for us to reach up and take Him by the hand. I imagine the love in His voice as He speaks to Adam after the “fall”. “When they heard the sound of God as he was walking in the garden and they hid, and [He] called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ (Genesis 3:7-9)” Can you hear it? Can you sense the deep love for His creation as He says, “Where are you?” As a parent would call to a child out of sight in a crowded mall, “WHERE ARE YOU?” with an urgency burning in the heart, with a love wanting to keep the child protected and safe … that is the love I hear in God’s call to Adam. He did not have to ask Adam where he was. God knew. He saw where they were hiding. He asked as a way to show His love even through the disobedience.
Wherever you are, whatever you have done, remember that God loves you. It is unconditional. When you feel that no one cares, remember the love of the Heavenly Father and know that He is jealous for your love, too. Take Him by the hand and walk with Him today.
How He Loves (John Mark McMillan)
He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me
And oh, how He loves us so
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us all
Yeah, He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves
And we are His portion and
He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking
And Heaven meets Earth like an unforeseen kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets When I think about, the way…
That He loves us so
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us all
Yeah, He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves
