Does God Love Me?

I know something about love. In fact, there was a time when I was obsessed with it. His name was Eddie Maguire, and he was the entire focus of my life for many of my childhood years. I discovered him in the 6th grade. He walked into the classroom, and suddenly I couldn't see anything but him. He actually took my breath away! He was tall and slim with a handsome face and glossy black hair, and I was smitten. For years my diary included a daily accounting of what Eddie wore that day, and where and when I saw him. He was "dreamy," and I really loved him.

Today I guess you would call me a stalker. Until well into my high school years I continued to keep track of Eddie's clothes, as well as his classes and interests. The one thing I never did, though, was tell Eddie about my feelings... in fact, Eddie didn't know I existed. Oh, he may have seen me around the school hallways every so often, but in his mind I wasn't even on the same planet.

This is exactly the situation between us and God. The Bible says "I have loved you with an everlasting love," (Jeremiah 31:3) but that love is lost on most of humanity. They don't even know He exists-and if they see His work around them every so often, they just think it's "nature" or "chance." They don't see His loving hand at work in their lives. He's pretty much "on another planet."

But what if I had taken the opportunity to tell Eddie how much I loved him? What if I had written him letters, sent cards and left him messages to express my longing for him to return my love? Well, that's just what God did. He wrote us many poems and letters over thousands of years, using a variety of authors, styles and methods to get our attention and to express his love. He has told us, over and over, that He loves us and wants a deep abiding relationship with us. The problem is, we haven't responded in kind.

Now please don't misunderstand my parable. I'm not God and I certainly didn't love Eddie perfectly. In fact, after high school I went on to college and left all thought of Eddie behind. If, on one of those old Jr. High school days, Eddie had looked my way, come over and actually talked to me, the course of my life might have been very different. But he didn't.

My point is, Eddie never responded to my deep and abiding love for him. That love was never returned, and we never experienced what life could have been if we had shared that deep love which only I felt. I was waiting, but he wasn't interested. It's the same with God's love. It's always there, it's constant, and it's freely offered. But until we actually see that offer, recognize it's directed at us, and respond to it, it will never make an impact on our lives. We'll always be "Eddie Maguire" in God's eyes.

Why does God love us? Beats me. I was first attracted to Eddie because I thought he was very handsome. Not so with us. Some people are gorgeous on the outside, some on the inside. Some are very loveable, some not at all. We come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes, but there is nothing special about most of us. God loves us because He chooses to, not because we did something to merit that love. I think that's what makes it hard for us to accept. We have been taught that we must earn the favor of others, yet God says there is nothing we can do to earn His love.

So, if He's God, and He loves us, why doesn't He just make us love Him? Would it really be love if we were forced to respond? If I could have cast a spell on Eddie to force him to see and love me, would it have been satisfying? Not if he didn't really mean it...not if he just wanted something from me and didn't care what happened to me. How often we treat God this way, and it's not at all what He wants. Love that isn't freely given isn't love at all.

The Bible tells us God's very definition is love. He exists in an eternal relationship which we call "the trinity." He doesn't need anything from us, but still He wants our love. There is no other reason than that He does. After all, who can account for love. Why did I fall for Eddie? Why did I end up marrying Jim and celebrating my 35th anniversary this year? Love is beyond our comprehension, just like God.

Turn around, look at your own life. Who have you really loved? How did it feel? That's just what God wants from us. How have you responded to His offer of undying love?