He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not

A few days ago while walking in the driveway, I stopped and picked a few of the Black-eyed Susan wildflowers growing along the side. Almost every time I see a flower like this I think about the childish rhyme, "He loves me....he loves me not....he loves me....he loves me not..." that people...mostly young girls... chant while pulling off one flower petal at a time. I was introduced to this little 'game', you might call it, as a youngster. It held so much promise of happiness but yet also the possibility of sorrow. Whether I ended up happy or sad was determined by which phrase..."he loves me"....or...."he loves me not"...corresponded to the last petal on the flower!

All of us are born with the need to be loved. It's sad to say that in this day and time there are many who don't experience that love from their family and friends and some turn to unsavory places and circumstances to try to meet that need for love.

Probably more people than we can imagine have felt at one time or another that no one loved them. Maybe someone close to you has even felt that way and you knew nothing about it. It's something that can be hard to admit and even harder to talk about.

Although the love we feel from family and friends is a very wonderful thing, there is a love that is even deeper and more wonderful. I'm talking about the love that God has for each and every person on planet Earth. God loves you more than any human being could ever love you. And you know what? God wants you to love Him back!

Have you ever felt that because you did or said something that was wrong that God didn't love you any more? And on the other hand, do you ever feel that when you try to do something "big" for God, that He will love you more? I've felt both of those opposing emotions. Sometimes I do things that I know are a disappointment to God and I think within myself..."I guess God doesn't love me much right now! (sigh!)" And on the other hand, sometimes when I try really hard to do something 'big' for God, I think..."I guess God must love me more today!" When in reality, neither of these conclusions are true! God is love! Pure and simple. He loves me when I'm bad. He loves me when I'm good. He loves me because He is God and not because of anything I do or don't do. Period. God loved me...and you...and every person past, present, and future....so much that He gave Himself in the form of Jesus to pay for our sins on Calvary's cross. It's not what we DO but what He DID that we need to remember! "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4: 10

I have found these things to be true: I have found that the more I love Jesus....the more I love the people around me. ("By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13: 35) I have found that the more I love Jesus....the less I worry about the future. ("There is no fear in love..."1 John 4: 18) I have found that the more I love Jesus, the more I recognize His love for me. ("We love him, because he first loved us." 1 John 4: 19)

So...the moral of my story today is this.....if you pick a flower and pull the petals off to the rhythm of "He loves me"....He loves me not"....it doesn't really matter what phrase the last petal lands on where God is concerned....because "God IS love!" 1 John 4: 8

Thanking Him for loving me!

Marilyn