True Love Direct from Heaven

When you think of the word, "love", what pops into your mind?  I remember the Disney movie "The Lady and the Tramp" when they are given a plate of spaghetti and they end up sucking on the same strand.  We go, "ah" isn't that cute!  We fall into the trap of thinking now that's love.  If you watch television at all you will be quick to realize that love is often a synonym for sex, they are used interchangeably to such an extent that one cannot tell the difference between them.

People have a hard time understanding the true definition of the word, love.  You know that by the way people do what they do in order to earn it.  A child will go to any length to show their love to their parents.  A woman often will stay with an abusive man because of love.  We know that is not true 'love' but rather a dependence on another for emotional and relational security.

When we come to the Scripture, the picture painted by God takes our breath away.  The great overarching story that is presented to us is that man spurned the love of God and preferred to go it his own way.  Thinking that he could do better on his own, man determined to build his own utopia apart from God.  He sought to find love in things, in himself and in life separated from the Creator.  He tried to make a name for himself without taking God into account and ended up with a purposeless life void of meaning and substance.

God's love brings purpose and meaning to life because He designed to be loved by Him!  When we try and stuff our lives with "stuff" we miss the point!  God's love gives us an identity that satisfies the deep longings of our heart.  I love literally the truth that First John 3:1 shares with us, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!"  

I don't know about you, but before God's love rescued me, I was an absolute nobody!  I sought love by trying to please my parents, by trying to gain acceptance into a certain group in high school, and never found it! Never!  How often it is then that as a believer in Jesus Christ instead of being satisfied with His love that I have sought that satisfaction in the poor replicas of the love that the world tempts me with?  Too often, I must admit.

God's love has rescued me from sin, it has given me purpose and joy, peace and above all, love.  I love those around me with that love with which God has rescued me!  Unbelievable!