Last night my husband and I went to buy our Christmas tree. We went to the same Christmas tree lot which is just a mile down the road from our house.
It was a different experience – less people, everyone masked, and instead of friendly chatter between shoppers, there was silence and distancing. But we got our tree!
It also reminded me of our tree shopping from another year and so this morning, I am revisiting my own words from 2015.
In the book of Hosea, you will read the beautiful story of the depth to which Hosea loves his wife, who is unfaithful to him. Not only unfaithful, she prostitutes herself – making herself difficult to love and an embarrassment to Hosea, a prophet.
But Hosea woos Gomer back and gives us a beautiful allegory of the way God loves His people. Hosea tells us the one thing God desires above ANYTHING else – – God wants our love.
“I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me, more than I want burnt offeringsâ€. (Hosea 6:6, NLT)
The Living Bible words it this way… “I don’t want your sacrifices – I want your love.†God desires for us to fall in love with Him. And stay in love with Him.
Our love for God will cause us to worship Him, which in turn will cause us to know Him more deeply and intimately. Our worship of Him is rooted in our knowing, to the core of our being, how very much He loves us and cherishes us.
The other morning, I had music on when the simple song, “Jesus Loves Me†began to fill room. The beauty and the power in those familiar words, which I have sung since I was a little girl, was overwhelming. Their profoundness striking deeply in the moment. I may never be able to sing them again without remembering.
We will never be able to love others well until we know we are well loved by the very God who created us. And this “knowing†cannot be solely head knowledge. Our hearts need to know.
Saint Augustine put it this way ….
“To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; to seek Him, the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement.â€
God is writing a love story, a romance with each one of us.
Friday night, my husband and I went out to buy our Christmas tree. Stepping out of his truck, we began to walk up the aisle of trees. There before me it stood – our tree. Looking at my husband I said, “This is it. This is our tree.†To which he responded, “Let’s keep looking.†So we kept on looking. But none suited us. After a bit, my husband said, “Let’s go back and look at the first one again.†Giving the tree a second look over, we laughingly said to each other, “Yeah, this is it.†Jokingly, I said to him, “It was love at first sight for me.â€
In that split second, Hosea and Gomer’s story, read early that morning, came flooding back. It hit me …
When we truly fall in love with God and not just “love†Him, we will never be satisfied with anything but Him.
My hope for this Advent season of 2020 is that every one of us would realize anew
the deep love of the Father for each one of us.
Photo by David Boozer on Unsplash
Today I am joining … Heart Encouragement and Let’s Have Coffee .
♫Jesus loves me – this I know
♫For the Bible tells me so
♫Little ones to Him belong
♫They are weak but He is strong!
♫YES, Jesus Loves Me
There are times that these words are all I want to hear. Not rocket science, not deep theology – just simply, JESUS LOVES ME THIS I KNOW!!!
Your post reminds me of the song we used to sing in Sunday School. It IS simple but wonderful. I have been thinking a lot lately about the 2 components of love. We first must be known, and second, we must be adored. Only God has perfect love for us. He knows us and adores us, despite our flaws. What more could we ask?