The Enduring Love of God

Valentine’s Day came and went.  Messages of romantic love and Pal-entine love, even Gal-entine love were sent across the cyber spaces among young and old alike.  Bouquets of red roses and heart-shaped boxes of milk chocolates, edible arrangements of chocolate-covered strawberries, candle-lit dinners and whispers of “I Love You”….

We love our families, our friends, our children, our spouses, our partners, our significant others, Moms and Dads.   No doubt, love is in the air on Valentine’s Day.  Some people pooh pooh the day as another Hallmark holiday and ask “Shouldn’t we love each other EVERYDAY, instead of just once a year?” So to answer that question, “Yes, we should.  And no doubt, we do.”

My friend enlightened me on the original history of Valentine’s Day. I was blessed to hear the story of St. Valentine, a priest in ancient times who purposely and blatantly broke the state’s law against marriage. Despite personal danger, he continued to marry young Christian couples who wanted to pledge their undying love for one another in the presence of God and witnesses. It was their heartfelt desire to make those solemn oaths of fidelity to one another.  St. Valentine was beheaded for standing firm on those Christian values and doing his best to keep marriage a sacred covenant between a man and a woman.  May God remind us of the sacrifice of St. Valentine even in our time.

So Valentine’s Day has come and gone again.  The roses are drooping today, the chocolates have upset our stomachs pretty bad, and it’s kind of life as usual today, four days after the Love Holiday….

But take heart, for God loves us and the Bible says over and over:

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

Throughout Scripture from the Chronicles, to the Psalms, to Jeremiah and beyond, the love of God for His children is proclaimed and proclaimed.  His love is steadfast.  In our very modern times, we don’t often speak the word “steadfast” — so old-fashioned and quaint.  We kind of know what it means…and if you can’t quite put your finger on it:

“resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering, loyal, faithful, committed”

The steadfast love of God is not just a warm and fuzzy feeling He has when we are being well-behaved people.  His love is faithful and solid as a rock, NO MATTER our behavior.  We can trust Him to love us on our good days and on our worst days.  There is an old fairy tale that I used to read to my children, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” by Hans Christian Andersen.  Talk about an unwavering and faithful kind of love story…

God’s love story endures through the ages, throughout all the days of our lives.  It will outlast anything else we know.  We know that the heavens and earth will someday pass away, but the Word of the Lord shall remain.

His Word is a love letter to us.  The Word of God is Love.  The Word of God is Jesus.  Enduring for all eternity.  For an infinity of infinities.  All that we know in this life will fade away, including these old bodies.  But the love of God endures forever.  How wonderful is that thought?