It's almost Easter.
I can't wait for it, either. Easter is one of my favorite days. Ever. Because you see, it was the day- many, many years ago- that my story was rewritten. So was yours.
But before I ramble on about that, I want throw to out there what Jesus has been talking to me about in all this. Well, maybe talking isn't quite the right word. More like the whale-sized mountain of emotions and feelings He's thrown at me. I don't know how well I can explain this; there just aren't words sometimes. But I'll give it a shot.
So last week, I read this book. (I love how God uses books to reveal our hearts, and His heart too.) It's one of Ted Dekker's new books, Immanuel's Veins. The title right there makes you think. But as I read it, my perspective was completely refocused. Again.
Jesus love us. So, so, so much. It's crazy.
He is so madly, passionately, and desperately in love with me. (And you too.) And all He wants is for me to love Him back; to accept the Love He offers, and simply say "I love you too."
But not just the moment of love. But the love that defies reason. The kind of love that abandons everything dear, just to be with the object of that love. The sort of love that desires to be loved in return, even more than life itself. A love that sees past the surface, to the the very essence and dovotes itself anyways. A love that protects and defends. A Love that even set out to obliterate the very reason we could not love Him back.
I wish there was a way I could let you feel this. That these would be more than just words on a page to you. And so I pray, that the Holy Spirit would work in your heart, as I share with you the gift He's given me.
Sometimes, I think, we become so desensitized to the account of Jesus dying on the cross. It becomes a story we've heard over and over, something from long ago in a different culture, that doesn't relate much to life today. Only relatable because "Jesus died for our sins." But do we ever really listen to those words?
Take that story, and imagine a man. A man who, today, would stand out because he thinks differently than most...
He's looks rather average; not abnormally tall or short. Not particularly beautiful or ugly. Except for those eyes- deep emerald pools, simply captivating, speaking a million things at once, yet eminating a peace that defies the chaos around. Passion and peace, fire and sea- all wrapped in one. They sparkle with some sort of unknown delight, or a secret that can't be contained.
He's confident. All of his mannerisms would suggest it. He stays so calm, even in tumultuous situations. He speaks in a voice that commands authority, silky smooth, yet husky with emotion. The words he says are the very words your heart was thirsting to hear, striking a chord that resonates deep within you. And yet, at the flip of a coin, his passion overflows and his actions are those of a desperate man. So very, very desperate...
Let your heart go. Imagine this crazy man who we read about. A warrior, but a lover.
This is the man who gave his life for you. But he didn't just "give it" either.
He romanced you. He wooed you. He asked you to Love Him in return. But you couldn't. Even if you wanted too, you couldn't. You were bound, hand and foot, heart and soul, by a choice made long ago. You had another lover. One who had seduced you. He told you beautiful stories, and offered you power and knowlege. And you accepted. But as soon as you had, you were his. The silver lining faded, and what was left, was Hell.
Even still, your first lover kept persuing you. And since you could not give him your love in return, He set about to cut the chords binding you, to destroy the iron fist that had a grip on your heart.
And He did.
He died. He fought. He gave His blood.
And then He came back to us.
He severed the bonds. He abolished the hold on our very lives.
And He said, "I love you, more than life and death. I choose you. I want you to be mine. I want to care for you and protect you. I want to romance you, and be with you. Always and forever."
And then with tears in His eyes-those eyes that are holding back a sea of emotion- He simply asks, "Do you love me too? Will you be my bride?"
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is Love.
[1 Corinthians 13]
And so now I challenge you:
Will you be His bride?
