I love

Just thinking back to the days of my teens and early 20s when car stickers were all the rage (not to mention stickers for a multitude of other occasions).  We Christians seemed to be particularly into stickers, believing that this was a great way to spread the message.  No doubt Jesus would have made abundant use of "Jesus loves you" smiley face stickers if they had been around in the 1st century!

Of course not all church folk appreciated car stickers, especially if they involved humour, which was frowned on in certain quarters.  Many years ago we had a car that just about got us from A to B most of the time (we were struggling to start it on one occasion and our daughter Caroline called out from the back seat, "It won't start because you haven't prayed about it yet!")  Our affectionate name for the car was Galeed, which is a Hebrew word found in the Old Testament which can be translated "witness heap."

Of course our struggling but faithful car was a witness heap because it was adorned with several Christian car stickers.  The sticker in the back window stated, "Don't laugh, Jesus travelled by donkey!"  On one occasion Sue and I were berated by a very serious gentleman who was most concerned that we were, in his opinion, using the name of the Lord in vain!  We did try to explain the concept of humour to him but he was having none of it (bless him).

The heighday of Christian stickers has long since passed, but there are still various sorts of car stickers around.  One of the most popular seems to be the "I love____" sticker, with a heart symbol representing love, and with various words being offered as the subject of the love (N.Y. music, dogs, pizza - the list is endless).  A few days ago I noticed an "I love" sticker in the back window of the car in front of me as I was driving along.  The wording after the heart was so small I couldn't read it, so the sicker simply appeared to say, "I love.

 

That simple message really struck a chord in my heart, because it spoke of a generous, unrestricted love, freely offered: the kind of love which the Bible describes as being seen supremely in God.  John puts it like this: 'God is love' (1 John 4:8).  It is that amazing, abundant and overflowing love of God the Father we focus on at Easter as we think of the gift of his Son ('God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners' (Romans 5:8))

What's more, God's plan for us is that as he pours out his love into us, we should allow that love to flow from us into the lives of others.  In fact, Jesus himself said that the most powerful sign that we are his followers will be through the love that is seen in our lives, 'Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples' (John 13:35).

How amazing it would be if we Christians were known primarily for our love.  Sadly it has not always been the case, and sometimes our love has been restricted to those who are like us, or those whose behaviour and lifestyle we approve of.  Yet as Wallace Brown so rightly states, 'We are called to love people where they are, not where we think they ought to be.'

It seems to me that the message "I love" summarises in a simple yet profound way exactly what God longs to see in us all.