"i love you..." whispered my two-year-old, almost inaudibly. "i love you, too," I whispered back to him, taking a moment to adore his light blond hair, blue eyes, and baby-turning-little-boy features. "I LOVE YOU!!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "I LOVE YOU, TOO!!!" I shouted back. He giggled at hearing his mommy practically scream his favorite words at him. Then he started over again. "i love you," came the whisper. It has been a delight this week to play this new game with my son. I can't help but note that no matter how softly or loudly his words come across to me, his heart of love for me is the same.
Do we know this to be true of our relationship with our Father? There are times His love comes to us in whispers. Flowers bloom just outside the window..."i love you." A close call with another vehicle and we realize for a moment that our lives are not our own to protect but held firmly in the hands of Another. Gently sustained through difficult times, God's love is at times barely perceived by a weary, troubled heart. Sometimes life is just so hectic and loud all around us we barely notice the whispers.
Then there are times when all is still and the Voice of the Father is heard loud and clear. Curiously enough, this happens most often for me when I am quietly sitting, my Bible before me, taking time to listen and hear what He has to say. As I have read through the gospel of John the past two weeks, it is as though the Person of Jesus has leaped off the pages and taken me into the Father's arms. "I LOVE YOU!!" the words fairly shout at me. Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17 contains phrase after phrase indicating His own people are those who have been given to Him. I find the words "given by God to Jesus" stamped across my life. Comparing John 1:1-5 with Col. 1:16 I see I am created both by and for Christ, the Eternal Creator-Redeemer and architect of my life. John 1:12-13 and 3:8 insist I am a child of God, born of the Spirit. I suddenly understand that though I often come to God with twisted thinking that He is begrudgingly allowing me into His presence, God has done something so much more wonderful than I had imagined or thought. He set His gaze on me in love long before I could or would return it, and bids me to draw nearer. "I LOVE YOU!!!"
It is too easy to keep God's love at arm's length, leaving the Bible closed thinking He is glad to have a break from us another day, not realising it is really us who are taking a break from Him. It's not that His love is not enough but that at times it is too intense, calling forth changes in our love we are not willing to admit we need. Open the pages and His word and you will discover the true heart of our Father. Whether heard in whispers or shouts, His unfathomable love is waiting to be communicated to those who will lean in to listen. When you hear it, you will never be the same. And perhaps your heart will begin to whisper back, "i love you" in response to the greatest Love the human heart will ever know.
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