A Thought For The Week Of January 22, 2018

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ ..." (Ephesians 3:17b-18) It was the experience of becoming a parent that really taught me about God's love. I had been a Christian for a lot of years by that point. I understood the love of God; I had felt the love of God; I was convinced of the love of God. But still ... there was a theoretical feel to it; something I couldn't quite relate to. I understood that "God so loved the world." I understood that nothing could separate me from God's love. And that filled me with a sense of both humility and gratitude - but I'm not sure I ever really understood it until that day; the first time I held my daughter in my arms. And I looked at her. And I was swept away. This life was dependent on me. And in that moment I could imagine that it would be possible for me to be disappointed in her, angry with her, frustrated with her - many things. But equally in that moment I realized that I could never - no matter what - not love her, not care for her, not protect her, not give myself for her. And in that moment - I understood the love of God more fully and more powerfully and more completely than I had ever understood it before. The love of a parent for a child. Not an emotional, "carried away with the moment" kind of love - but a sense of commitment and dedication. A long haul, "nothing - no matter what - can ever change this" kind of love. On a Christian radio station a few days ago I heard a discussion on the question "is God's love unconditional?" The question seemed so pointless to me. God is perfect; I am not. God is far more loving and far more merciful and far more compassionate and far more dedicated than I can ever be. And if I can feel such total love for my child - a love that I know will never, ever change, no matter the circumstances - then how much more is God's love for his children? Indeed, "I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ ..."