What A Valentine!

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

 

Today's passage is very familiar.  In fact, it's so familiar that most of us can recite it without having any real idea what we are saying (because we learned it by rote years ago).  

 

Valentine's Day just passed.  I hope you got a Valentine or two, and I hope you gave a Valentine or two.  Valentine's Day is the holiday designated to express love for those we truly care about.  And the Greeting Card companies, Candy Companies, Jewelry Merchants, Stuffed Animal Sellers, and all the other corporations seeking to profit from love, spare no expense trying to get (or guilt) all sorts of material goods that are supposed to "express what's in your heart."  Yet, none of them have been able to capture (or even mention) the greatest Valentine's Gift of all....Jesus Christ!

 

Think about it:  God didn't have to create anything, but He did.   God didn't have to give us anything, yet He has given us everything.  God didn't have to provide a way to rescue us from ourselves, yet He did.  God provided the perfect gift for imperfect people in the form of His Son.  

 

Jesus, who did not sin, accepted ALL of our sin and paid the required price to purchase our freedom for eternity.  This is the Valentine's Gift God offers.  And the only "catch" is that we have to accept His gift.