Okay… think of it…your favorite romance. Maybe it was a book you read or a movie you saw.
Maybe the characters took great risk to be together. Or maybe they overcame huge obstacles. Perhaps they started out hating each other and in the end, fell in love. These are the love stories that leave you grabbing for a box of tissues. Why do they evoke so much emotion in us?
Because everyone loves a true love story.
I have my favorites…
I wonder how many remember this?.jpg "Sleepless-in-Seattle-movie-DVD")
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Doctor Marcia Fieldstone: Tell me what was so special about your wife?
Sam Baldwin: Well, how long is your program? Well, it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together… and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home… only to no home I’d ever known… I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like… magic.
That moment in the movie still gets me!
I actually have a pet peeve when it comes to movies. I hate to watch a movie where it’s inevitable that two characters are falling in love…It’s obvious they are meant for each other and then in the end, they just walk away. Have you ever seen a movie like that? Someone says to you, “Well, they wanted the movie to have a realistic ending.” Phooey on that! How about fight for love? How about take a risk?
I want the “happily ever after”!
What is it within us that wants to see Love Conquer All?
Remember in the movie, Sleepless in Seattle, how Sam almost missed Annie on the top of the Empire State Building? How stressful! Well, imagine with me that he asks her to come back to Seattle. Then once she arrives he says to her,
“Listen. I want you in my life. You are so important to me. In fact, you are the MOST important thing in my life, but I still want to see other people. Don’t get me wrong. I want to see you at least on Sunday and maybe even on another day of the week if my schedule allows but don’t be unreasonable.”
Imagine that being the end of the movie! It’s ridiculous…there’s no place for lines like that in a true love story!
Maybe you know where I am going with this. God loves us. He pursues us. He made great sacrifices for us (the death of His Son, Jesus) so that we could have an eternal relationship with Him.
Romans 5:7-9 says, “Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
Zephaniah 3:17 says, “For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
In fact, God’s Word – the Bible – is often called His love letter to us.
It’s truly the best love story ever told and the only time the phrase “and they lived happily ever after” really works!
I can honestly say…I get it. I don’t understand how He could love me like He does but the fact remains…He just does. Knowing His love and seeing it displayed in my life everyday, I want Him to know I love Him too. I want everything I do to reflect my heart for Him.
I’d like to leave you today with a thought that I read this past week during my quiet time. I hope you’ll read it slowly and take the time to let it sink in:
“We do not zealously invest in that which does not interest us. Our greatest love shapes all our other affections and determines our path.“ (INDEED September 11, 2012)
As crazy as it might sound, so much of Sam Baldwin’s quote resonates in my heart…
How do I describe what Christ means to me?
“Well, it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together… and I knew it. I knew it (from the moment He saved me). It was like coming home… only to no home I’d ever known.”
Knowing Christ is like coming home.
Do you know Him?
I’d be interested to hear from those of you who have experienced that love that God offers in His Son, Jesus. It truly is the great romance! And, if you want to know more about this love relationship, please contact me at tammy@luminosityonline.com.
I want to leave you with an old song that beautifully describes how we are loved by God.
The Love of God | Frederick M. Lehman
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.
Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Lisa Kerns - Beautifully said Tammy. That song was always one of my favs that u guys sang.
Ben - Great reminder of His everlasting love!! To fully write about Gods love for us would completely drain an ocean of ink!
Pamala McMorrow - I truely have experienced the love of God for around 47 years now, and I can say I love Him more and more everyday. He is my best friend and I don’t know how I would ever survive my life without Him. I love Him so much. I love the song you tagged at the end. It’s one of my favorites. The song is deep, just like the love of Jesus. Thank you for sharing. 🙂 Have a blessed week. ps(I heard Tiffani loves your church. Hopefully soon it’ll be HER church.) Thanks for reaching to her and her family.