The Simplicity of Love

In a world which has no idea what love is, the Christian must make sure that he understands its simplicity and its greatness. And the only way to do that is to come to a deeper understanding of God's love for us. The depth of our commitment to loving Him--"if you love Me, keep my commandments"--is directly related to our understanding of His love. Every time I fail, His love erases the failure so that I can, one day, stand in the very presence of the holy God--completely forgiven. Every moment of my life--awake or asleep--I am the apple of His eye. He is always looking at me with a heart full of love. If everyone else rejects me and turns from me, He will always see me as the love of His life. In my weakness I can rest in His love. In life's darkest moments, I will be lifted up in the arms of everlasting love. Even if I try to run away from His love, I cannot escape His tender care.
I feel, at times, a deep grief. I see a church, I see young people, I see myself, all claiming to be so deeply in love with God. All of us singing His praises. All of us professing to love Him. Yet, I see so little obedience. I see so little commitment to following Him no matter what the cost. I see us doubting the love of God because of the choices men make. The simple truth is that we--I--don't truly understand how much He loves us. If we did, it would transform our lives. We would understand that all things are sacred, and we would be committed to excellence in all things. We would understand that He died for all men, and we would be committed to telling all men of His love. We would understand that confidence in prayer is based on our confidence in His love, and nothing would keep us off our knees, nothing could make us pray and doubt His loving answer, doubt that His answer is the best for us. We would understand that obedience is the only way to say, "I love you, Lord." And we would obey joyfully, explicitly, unashamedly. The song in our soul would be "It was His love for me that nailed Him to the tree."
I pray a simple prayer for my sons, daughter-in-law, granddaughters, sisters and their families, former students, and other friends in my life, and it is this prayer: "Tomorrow, Lord, make your love for them plain and undeniable. Tomorrow give them a deeper understanding of your great love." If I happen to be on your prayer list, pray that intercessory prayer for me please. Pray it for the ones you love. When God reveals His love, lives are transformed.