Have I told You?

Have I told you lately that I love you? Seriously, has anyone said “I love you,” these three simple words to you in recent days? I ask this question with a purpose in mind. It is something that has been bugging me a lot lately. There have been a few days that I felt unloved. It is my burden sometimes as I struggle with a particular health issue. I wonder and struggle with how anyone can love me, and does God even love me in this broken condition? To be honest there are times when I struggle with how God ignored my cries for healing.

Then I remember these two passages from the Bible:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 NAS95

"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. "So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:28-32 NAS95

Not long ago I wrote that we needed to focus on Christ this Christmas (Advent) season and less on the distractions of Christmas. As I have striven to do that I have become intensely aware of how much God focuses on us every day. I realize this paragraph is a 180-degree turn from the one before the Bible references, but they go hand in hand.

I have a medical issue that I struggle with every day of my life. It is new to me, less than three years at the time of this writing. It is at times embarrassing, debilitating and so frustrating I get depressed having to deal with it. I feel as though I have been abandoned by God at times. But then a stupid love song, like the Rod Stewart/Van Morrison song I quoted at the beginning of this musing comes on the radio, or the music set I am playing on my computer, and my world gets turned upside down.

I traveled nearly every week during the 1990s. This song was popular at the time, and it was often playing in the airports, on the rental car radios, and in restaurants, it seemed like it was everywhere I was traveling. I started calling my wife every time I heard the song, just to be sure she knew, no matter where I was in this country, I loved her.

Over the years I have always been reminded that I love her when I hear this song. She even bought the album for me and it is loaded on my computer so it comes up once in a while. Lately, the words have taken on a new meaning in my life. I think about how much God loves me. My thoughts go to these two Bible passages and I am reminded that God does indeed love me. It is not the words of the song, it is the words of the Bible that bring the assurance of God’s love.

Basically, I am an unlovable cranky old guy. I know it. I try not to be, but I can be a real pain in the neck. And yet, somehow, God (and my wife) love me. Paul would write to the Romans:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8 NAS95

Here it is in the context of what Paul wrote:

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:6-10 NAS95

I can almost hear God saying to humanity, “I have told you lately that I love you, I sent my Son to prove it.”

My challenge for you today is this, take time to tell someone you love them, after you thank our heavenly Father, for first loving you.