Called to be Loved

As a child of God, He is calling me to be loved and to love him.

Some days I just stop and really look at my boys, and I’m blown away by how much I stinking love those little faces.  You know those moments when you seem to get smacked in the face by the depth of your love for them.  And you wrap your arms around them and feel their little bodies close against your chest and you just know that you love them.  And in that moment, they know it too.  That’s enough.  That’s all it needs to be in that moment.  No striving, just pure love.

And as his child, I know that God feels that way about me.

1 John 3:1 NLT – See how very much our father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are.

That love for my kids is what causes me to watch out for them.  It’s what causes me to continue making their lunches every day, to give them gifts, to spend time at night reading them stories and singing them lullabies.  It’s what causes me to wrap them in my arms when they are hurt, and comfort them when they’re afraid.

Zephaniah 3:17 NLT – For the Lord your God is living among you.  He is a mighty saviour.  He will take delight in you with gladness.  With his love he will calm all your fears.  He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

James 1:17-18 NLT – Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.  He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

These verses just seem to capture perfectly the heart that God has for us, as his kids.  That he has chosen me.  I am his prized posession.  He rejoices over me with singing and he delights in me!

The other day, my three year old son took my face and turned it so I was looking into his eyes.  He put one hand on each of my cheeks and he whispered, “I love you mummy.”  How to make a parents heart melt!  In demonstrating to him how much I love him, I have also taught him how to express his love for me.  And how much does it make God’s heart melt when we look at his face, and we tell him how much we love him.

Psalms 86:12-13 NLT – With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever, for your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death.

1 John 4:16-18 NLT – We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

I know the love of God is something that we talk about all the time, but I think it is worth taking a moment to stop and think about it from a parents point of view.  This love, the love that he has for us, and the love that we in turn give back to him, really is the foundation of everything else in our lives!  This love is the basis of the whole bible, the story of the whole world!  It’s all about this crazy, redeeming, rejoicing, pure love.

And as a daughter of God, this love is what the rest of my life should flow from.