It all started because three times the "love" chapter in the Bible popped up in my life. When something happens three times in a row, I take that as if it were meant for me. Always before in life when I've read the "love" chapter I've read it with the thought that it is there to teach me to love people.
But today, I read it differently. I read it as the Lord telling me to love HIM. I went to my closet and closed my eyes and thought about Jesus. I thought about the night before His crucifixion how He sat in the garden and prayed so passionately that he was sweating blood.
I thought about those drops of blood and how while He was pouring His heart out to His Father and asking Him to not make Him endure the torture of the next day, He was thinking about me. I was on His mind in this distressing moment when He chose to take on the torment because He loved me that much. That is some serious love.
When I thought about that this morning, all I wanted to do was love Him back. I just wanted to reach up and touch Him and hug Him and thank Him. I wished that I had some expensive perfume I could pour on His feet and wipe up with my hair. I wished I could stop working and just go hang out with this AMAZING Lord Who makes my heart so very happy. It's been a long time since I've just thought about how GREAT He is.
I don't think in all my 46 years I've ever once taken a single day and decided not to ask God for anything, but today that's what I'm doing. It's not wrong to ask God for help or guidance or the things we need. That's not why I am choosing this. I am choosing this because today is all about loving Him and nothing more and here are some of the things I've learned already...
- Praying is hard work. Taking a break from praying for things has left me feeling light. When I'm praying, I'm burdened. I'm thinking hard about my problems or about the problems of the person I'm praying for. Those burdens weigh me down. Now I get why Jesus was sweating blood that night He prayed. Praying really wears a person out!
- Focusing on loving Jesus makes all my problems fade away. I know they are all still there and I'll deal with them again tomorrow (with a new strength I'm sure). But for today, while I'm just loving Jesus, I can't even remember my problems.
- Love is better than any other thing. Those words spoken to the Corinthians were true! Love is better than faith. It's better than knowledge. It's better than prophecy and tongues and everything. Love really is the greatest thing!
- I feel like Jesus is my friend. Today, just by loving Him, I feel like He and I are good friends.
- I don't feel weighed down by condemnation. My sins don't feel so big anymore because it feels like they are forgiven.
- I feel like the sun (or Son) is shining on me. There is light all around me, like the clouds of darkness and pain are gone and I'm in this glorious light.
- This is temporary because tomorrow I'll return to praying about the many burdens God gives me, but the best lesson of the day is realizing that I face an eternity of NOT having to pray about burdens. I will live forever ONLY having to love Jesus instead of asking Him for stuff. I can't wait!
Jesus, I love you!
