A love gift for Jesus

In February some folks find themselves buying romantic cards, or chocolates or flowers and sending overt or covert messages of undying love to their sweethearts.  This may well be just another marketing ploy in a culture which seems determined to keep us focused on consuming, but at the same time perhaps as Christians we can transform our popular culture into something a little more meaningful.

Who do you love most of all? Self? Significant other? Children? Pets? Family? Friends?

Ask a Christian and the answer should be God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Three in one. The Trinity. For some, one or other members of the Trinity are of foremost association : God as Father, or Jesus Christ as Saviour. Often the Holy Spirit is the most shadowy and difficult to envisage entity of the three.

God’s love is such a tangible, palpable thing, one that is given freely and daily to us. He gave us the best gift imaginable, that of our ransom from the consequences of our human fallenness and sin. He gave us his Son, Jesus Christ, to live as a man, teaching us of the things of God, and dying on the cross so that in repentance and faith in Jesus we could be back in right relationship with God.

As Valentine’s day approaches, and I am by no means endorsing the celebration of the day for it’s own sake, perhaps we can think of a love gift that we can give to God to display our love for Him.

We do so many things often as Christians out of a sense of duty. Church attendance, quiet time, Bible reading, prayer- sometimes these are done because we know we should do so. I pray sometimes for God to fill my spirit with the joy of doing these things because I love God, not because I know I should.

I’ve already decided what my February gift to God will be. It’s to give up something which has become a habit. By giving this up, I create a space in my life. God will use that space for something else- maybe more prayer time, or time for reflection or simply time to get a better night’s sleep. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10 that all things are permitted, but not everything is beneficial. Whilst the verses may be specifically referring to Jewish dietary laws, there is a wider implication here that we are to carefully consider, as Christians, how we are using our resources of time, effort and money.

Your gift to Jesus may not be to give up something. It may be a specific love offering to someone else for God's purposes. It might be to decisively act in some area where you have felt God’s prompting or leading. It might be to begin to seriously become disciplined in the area of Bible reading or prayer or giving. Not because you feel duty bound to, but because you would love to.

May God bless you as you show your love to Him this February. 

Aptly named Zephyranthes or Storm lilies, which have flowered since last weekend's cyclonic rains.