April 21, 2023
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On our list of holidays that we all celebrate each year, I have a sneaking suspicion there might be at least one of them that was invented by greeting card companies and florists. In America we call it Valentine's Day! Florists freak out and then they count their shekels the next day. And, of course, I even did my part by helping some struggling greeting card company. Yeah, I would do that. I had to of course. I wanted to get one for the woman I love.
And I get to celebrate on that day a lifetime love that God had given me in my amazing wife. But occasionally Valentine's Day would give me a flashback of a not-so-happy romantic memory; back in the day when I was 13 and I knew I was in love. Right!
Let's call this junior high heartthrob "Cindy." I remember combing the stores on our little town's main street for the perfect gift for Cindy - something to let her know I had feelings for her. Well, I bought the nicest necklace that a few weeks' allowance could afford. It was a heart-shaped necklace. I wrapped it in this mushy note I wrote, put it in an envelope and I left it on her desk in study hall.
The next day she passed by my desk and, as my heart beat loud enough to dance to, she silently left an envelope on my desk. There was a brief moment of excited anticipation, followed by one massive letdown. It was the envelope I'd given her with my note and my necklace inside. Uh-huh, I was crushed. She had rejected the love gift I'd spent everything on.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Love That Won't Let You Down."
You know, God knows how that feels, because He's spent everything on His love gift for you and me. In our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:32, it says, "He did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all." And then in John 3:16 it says, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."
You know, you can put your name in that verse. That's how deeply personal this love is. For example, for me it goes, "God so loved Ron (or put your name in there) that He gave His one and only Son that if (there's your name) will believe in Him, then (there's your name again) will not perish but have eternal life."
God knows the feeling of pouring out His love for us and having us just hand it back to Him. "Thanks, God, but no thanks. I'm not interested or I'm not ready." It's not a necklace we're rejecting. It's what the Bible calls "the gift of God (which) is eternal life" (Romans 6:23). In short, we are rejecting heaven. Because there's no way to get there except to have every wrong thing we've ever done forgiven. And there's no one who could do that but the man who died to pay for our sins. Jesus did the dying for the sinning we've done. Look what He spent on this gift!
Now, for too many, Valentine's Day and anniversaries are just reminders of how disappointing human love has been. Even a great love fails to fill that gaping hole in our heart. It's too big for any human to fill. The hole in our heart has Jesus' name on it. Here's what the Bible says, "we were created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). And only He has the unloseable love that will anchor us and finally complete us.
It must hurt God a lot to have spent so much and then have us care so little. But He's a stubborn lover. He's back again today. He's offering His love to someone who's listening right now. Won't you respond to His love? Accept the gift He died to give you. Open your heart. Tell Him right where you are today, "Dear Jesus, thank you for the price you paid for me; for my sin. Today I give me to You."
Let me encourage you to go to our website if you're wanting to be sure you belong to Jesus. Because that's what that website's all about. That's ANewStory.com. This could be the day that you find the love that you've been looking for your whole life!