Swept off my feet...

At the beginning of the summer, I bought a used copy of the 1968 bestseller Christy by Catherine Marshall.  (Summer for a teacher is a time to read fun books – books that require little deep thought…).  And yet, the story of Christy did make me think deeply.  It made me think about what love is.  Whether it was Miss Alice Henderson’s love for people, Christy’s love for her students, or the Doctor’s love for Christy, love kept appearing.  In fact, some of the most powerful words of the book come at the end, as Christy wakes from her coma (sorry for ruining the ending, guys) to hear the words of Doctor calling her back.  In response she thinks, “He loved me.  He loved me like that.”

Love.

That word is tossed around in our culture so freely.  We love potato chips.  We love the Olympics.  (yay diving!)  We love our friends and family. 

And we hear so frequently… “God loves you.”

But what kind of love is that?  Is it a love worth italicizing, like Christy did?  Should we be in shock that GOD loves us? 

Yes.

The Bible is full of verses that declare the greatness of God’s love:

Psalm 108:4  “…For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”

Psalm 107:43  “Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD.”

Great Christians of the past, who studied God’s word and spent a lot of time learning about Jesus, prayed prayers like this one found on page 53 of the Valley of Vision: 

“I know but little – increase my knowledge of Thy love in Jesus, keep me pressing forward for clearer discoveries of it, so that I may find its eternal fullness;  Magnify Thy love to me according to its greatness, and not according to my deserts and prayers, and whatever increase Thou givest, let it draw out greater love to Thee.”

Older hymn writers and newer worship leaders are stuck on the theme of God’s love:

 “So nigh, so very nigh to God; I cannot nearer be.  For in the Person of His Son, I am as near as He.  So dear, so very dear to God; more dear I cannot be.  The love wherewith He loves the Son, Such is His love to me!”  C. Paget, A Mind At Perfect Peace With God

“What heart can hold the weight of Your love?  And know the heights of Your worth?  What eyes can look on Your glorious face shining like the sun?”  - Matt Redman, Holy

I can’t begin to summarize God’s love.  The hymn “The Love of God” says well:  “Should we with ink the ocean fill, or were the skies of parchment made; were every stalk on earth a quill or every man a scribe by trade – to write the love of God would drain the ocean dry.  Nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky.” 

I have realized that in this past year I have focused a lot on my struggles.  I wrote in my journal about getting through disappointment or trials…and while that is not necessarily wrong, I missed out on the joy of focusing on God’s love.

A few Sundays ago, I was struck by the story in Mark 14 of the woman who poured expensive perfume on Jesus – to the chagrin of those watching.  Those watching exclaimed over how expensive it was, and how it was a waste to pour it on Jesus when the money could have gone to other things.  And do you know what Jesus said? 

“Why are you bothering her?  She has done a beautiful thing to me.”  (Mark 14:6)

Wow.  Jesus doesn’t use words lightly.  He called what she did BEAUTIFUL.  She poured an expression of her love on Love Himself.  She sacrificially gave all – becoming more like the One she was worshiping…making her beautiful.

It’s the beginning of a new school year for me – and instead of focusing on my trials and thanking God for the opportunity to “smell more like Jesus” – like I did last year, this year I am going to try to focus on Love Himself.  When I am amazed at how much Jesus loves me, then the sacrifices really don’t seem like sacrifices anymore, you know?  And oh…how much more I must learn.

Besides Christy, I read a few other books during the summer.  One was called Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey and contained a quote that made me chuckle as I reread it today:

“Given our fallen human nature, we typically do not really sit before the Lord unless our legs are knocked out from under us…”

God effectively knocked my legs out from under me this summer as I had ACL surgery and a change of plans.  But it made me realize His love for me more deeply – and for that I am grateful.  His love is one worth italicizing…and one worth learning about forever.

In fact, I’d rather not think of it as God knocking my legs out from under me this summer….I prefer to think of it as Him sweeping me off my feet. J