Since the end of my high school days I can remember thinking about and dwelling on some form of love or another. In that time I grew fond of movies that would deal with love, you know cheesy romantic comedies and the like. I also grew fond of love songs and books that dealt with love, well only a few and I’m not going to admit which ones. There were times when I would “fall” in love with a girl but that would quickly fade. I would begin to care for a girl so much that she would be all I would think about. My mind would be drawn to her at all moments. But this would not last, it would ebb and flow as a result of her actions or mine.
Along the way, I encountered Jesus Christ and he changed my life. I knew he loved me but it was entirely mental. I knew in my mind that he loved me, but rarely did it touch my heart. Like my “love” for these girls my understanding of this would ebb and flow. And this is how I have continued for the past 8 years, wow that is weird to write. 8 years is a long time, sorry for the side note.
As I have progressed in my journey I have read, discussed, heard, and learned about God’s love but it never really sank in. I guess in my heart I thought his love was like ours. I thought it ebbed and flowed like every human's love. You see we say things like “I’ll always love you” but we don’t really mean that. What I mean by that is the degree to which we love the person will change. We may always love that person but that amount we love that person will change from time to time. And this is where my epiphany came yesterday, July 30, 2009.
Yesterday in my heart I realized that God loves me continually with the same amount always. His love does not ebb and flow like human love. He loved me the same when I “knew” he didn’t exist, he loved me the same when I was making the stupidest decision of my adult life, he loved me the same when I decided to follow him, he loved me the same when I read my Bible every day, he loved me the same when I was on a mission trip, he loved me the same yesterday when I realized this, and he loves me the same as I write this. The Bible says, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8 NLT) and “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20 NLT)
His love for each and every one of us is the same. He loves all of us yesterday, today and tomorrow…forever. This was my epiphany. But I have a question for you. How will you respond to the love of The Father?
Jon Varner
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