Be-loved

 ^“You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” Song of Songs 4:7 (NIV)

This photo has captivated me since I first saw it a few years ago.  How I wish I could say that I was the photographer that seized this remarkable moment, but I’m not.  No, that honor belongs to my friend, Amber Fletcher.  If one could give love a face, then, for me, the expression on the little girl’s face embodies everything I believe to be true about love.  The purity and unrestrained beauty of wholehearted love is utterly captivating isn’t it?  It’s breathtaking and draws our very souls with a deep yearning and longing.  Who among us doesn’t want to experience such a pure love as both giver and receiver?

Imagine, if you will, from a spiritual perspective that you are one of the two girls in this photo and Jesus is the other girl.  Which of the two do you choose to be?  Which one is Jesus?  If you’re at all like me then you chose to be the younger girl which makes Jesus the older girl, of course.

Why was I so quick to place myself into the young girl’s shoes?  The sad truth is my choice was based not so much on how great my love for Jesus is, although I do love Him, but rather my inability to believe Jesus could love me so absolutely unconditionally like I see in this photo.

In 20-20 hindsight I’m beginning to realize that even though many years ago I said “yes” to His marriage proposal from the cross that night in my living room I never fully embraced all that He had to offer beyond our wedding day.   Strange sounding I know.

I was able to accept that He loved me enough such that He would die for me, but somehow I managed to not allow it to go much further than beyond that point.  I have kept Jesus in sight, but at bay.  I have kept Him at arm’s length allowing no warm embrace between the two of us.   For years and years I have been halfhearted.  I have not been all in.

Yet, even in the face of my unwillingness and rebellion, He has loved me still with “an everlasting love, drawing me ever closer with unfailing kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3).  He has persisted and never given up on our relationship.  He has been faithful while I have not been.

I ask you, “Is there another who is so patient?  Who is so long-suffering? Who is so kind? Who is so forgiving?  Who has not ceased to continually scan the distant horizon in hopes of my complete return to Him?” And as I turn back towards Him, He runs to greet me knowing full well where I have been.

Who is this God?  Who is this Heavenly Father of ours who would run towards me as fast as He possibly can so as to embrace me even though I’m still wearing the dirty, filthy rags that proclaim for all to see all the years of my disobedience apart from Him?  Who am I to Him such that He would do this?  There is but one answer: I am His beloved.

And so, my friend and fellow believer, you are His beloved as well.  Will you allow Him to truly love you from the cross and beyond?

“Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save.  He will rejoice over you with joy.  He will calm you in his love.  He will rejoice over you with singing.”  Zephaniah 3:17 (WEB)

“Aren’t five sparrows sold for two assaria coins?  Not one of them is forgotten by God.  But the very hairs of your head are all counted.  Therefore don’t be afraid.  You are of more value than many sparrows.”  Luke 12: 6-7 (WEB)