Love didn’t come naturally when we were born. Babies are demanding and when they spit their peas or beets out at us, we might think they actually hate us. 😊
When that sweet baby is put in your arms, the first thing you do is hug them to you and kiss them, but it takes a long time before they respond in kind. God, however, loved us even before we were born. Think about that for a minute. Have you ever loved anyone before you met them? Before you knew what they looked like or what their personality was like? God knew everything about us before we were born and still loves us no matter what we look like, what we say, or what we do.
My mother’s hobby was making things out of plastic canvas and yarn. She went to Heaven over 15 years ago and I still have some of the things she made. Others have disintegrated or broke. The heart in this picture is one thing I still have and put out every year around Valentine’s Day. As I looked at it, a couple of thoughts came to my mind. Before you continue reading, look at this picture for a few minutes and see what stands out to you.
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The shape of the heart is the first thing I noticed. It’s not a typical rounded heart. That’s hard to do with something as stiff as plastic canvas. Love comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Some people only open their hearts a little and other people have a big heart. God has the biggest heart of all and it’s open to everyone.
The second thing that caught my eye was the key hanging down from the heart which drew my eyes up to the keyhole that’s easy to miss when glancing at the heart. If there’s a keyhole in something and it’s locked, obviously you’ll need the key to open it. Is your heart open to love or is it locked up from past hurts?
The third thing I noticed was what’s behind the heart. It’s hanging on a door, but if you look at the design of the door in the picture, it looks like the heart is hanging on a cross. That’s the beginning of love.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16, NIV
Love began when God created the world, continued as He gave His only Son for us, and will never end because if we know Him, we get to spend eternity basking in His love and He in ours.
More about love in the next post…