Hey! Who loves ya?

I've heard this as a greeting, quite a few times. It was much more common 40 years ago, but I still hear it occasionally today.

Who loves you?

Without thinking about it, we Christians always say, "God loves us..."

It is time to think about it. God, our Lord, our Creator... He gave up His only Son for us, for you, for me! Think of it this way. Whom do you care enough about that you'd willingly give up your child's life for that person?

Anybody?

My kids have all been grown for some time, so for me, the question has always been a bit blurred. For some reason, today, I considered this question from the standpoint of my feelings for my granddaughter.

Wow! Boy, did that ever put it into perspective for me! There is nobody on this planet I value anywhere near as much as one scratch on my Princess! Nobody! Not even if you put everyone who's ever lived onto the other side of the equation! If anybody ever hurts her in the slightest way, he better get struck by lightning before I get there! Could God possibly care any less for His Son? I think not!

And yet... He did sacrifice His only Son. And He did it to save countless people who showed Him no respect, no concern and no love. It really boggles the mind. He loves even people who live an evil lifestyle, & loves them enough that His own Son was not too big a price to pay!

Look at how He's been paid back. Crime, lies, filth, and various forms of unspeakable vileness are commonplace today. A large percentage of people don't want to even be bothered with God. Who among us would have been capable of enduring all this satanic back-stabbing?

"And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." (Deut 30:6)kjv

"...and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, thou art my God." (Hos 2:23)kjv

"The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will rejoice over thee with singing." (Zeph 3:17)kjv

"But God commanded his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."
(Rom 5:8-10)kjv

Almost puts tears in your eyes, doesn't it? And it should! God loves us all with a love that infinitely exceeds anything we are capable of! Jesus died for each one of us. My sins killed Him, so did yours, so did the sins of each and every person who's ever lived. He died on the cross to save each of us.

Separately...

Individually...

Completely...

There is no way to respond to a love like that, except to hit your knees, thanking Him with all that you have, promising to do better, and meaning it.

Then get out and tell (or remind) others; after all, He values each of them that much, too.

See you soon, in Paradise!