A group of German scientists did a research project to find the secret to long life and success. They discovered that men who performed a simple act every morning had fewer auto accidents on the way to work, missed work less often because of illness and earned 20-30% more money than those who did not engage in this behavior. What did these safer, healthier, and wealthier men all have in common? Their wives kissed them every morning before leaving for work
But what if we don’t experience words or actions that say, “I love you” as much as we may wish? We cannot manipulate, cajole or even plead with others to love us. We can, however, seek out the source of love.
The Bible says, “God is love.” C.S. Lewis calls love that is the essence of God “gift love.” In Greek, it is agape. Gift love is not elicited by its object.
The other loves (storge—affection; philia—friendship; eros—passion) all are prompted by some quality or characteristic in the loved one. Often these are the loves that fade with time. Friendships unravel. Passion is hot today, cold tomorrow. People whose interests bring them together can also grow apart.
Eventually most of us realize these natural loves are not enough. We realize we need “gift love.” We need to be loved with a love that does not depend on how we act or how “lovable” we are. In short, we need the kind of love we can find in only one place—in Jesus Christ.
Has God’s gift-love filled those deep cavities in your heart where you still wonder if you’re worthy? Jesus Christ not only loves, Jesus is love—the source of love. We cannot prompt anyone to love us. But we are far from helpless when we yearn to hear “I love you” more often. We can drink in love that does not depend on how lovable we are—love as a gift for who we are, not what we are.
One of my best backpacking memories is joining my son’s Scout Troop for an eight-day trip across California’s High the Sierras, culminating on the top of Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the continental US. On the hardest day of the trip we gained over 2,500 feet in altitude climbing toward Colby Lake, a beautiful high mountain lake nestled beneath Colby Pass at 12,000 feet. We’d started at 6:00am that morning and by late afternoon we were tired and thirsty, still not knowing how much farther we had to go.
Finally, I got my legs in gear and started climbing the next switchback, where I discovered a tiny trickling stream, not enough to drink from, but definitely an encouragement that the lake must be somewhere above us. So I kept climbing, jumped across an even larger stream and finally followed that stream up to Colby lake. I stood at the edge of several acres of the bluest water I have ever seen. I could look down 30 feet or more into the purest, cleanest, coldest water I have ever tasted. I could drink all I wanted and never fear I would ever exhaust it.
I had followed the streams that kept me climbing, and found the Source.
So glad you are back on the blog! I love that visual picture of Colby Lake. We can all drink from the Living Water Jesus offers every day!