Big Love

Big Love

Lily, my eleven year old granddaughter, sent me a text message last night. It included a piece of art she had created. It was lovely and so for the next five minutes, we texted back and forth. The conversation went like this:

Lily: Hi Mimi, this is Lily I made this (picture was included)

Me: How did you do this?  It is beautiful!

Lily: There is an app were you take a picture and you get to write on it and put stuff all over it.

Me: WOW! You are Princess Lily, the creative royalty!

Lily: Thanks QM (Queen Mother) you are amazing!

Me: I love you more bunches than you can imagine.

Lily: I love u too QM!

Me: But I love you more….always!

Lily: And I know you do!

Me: Good night Sweet Girl

Lily: Good night QM!

Did you notice those words “And I know you do!” When I read those I was simply over come with her absolute assurance of it all.  SHE KNOWS her QM loves her. And she KNOWs her QM loves her better than she could ever love me. She is absolutely confident in that love and she knows it will be there for always.

I am reading John Piper’s wonderful book “What Jesus Demands of the World”.  Jesus really does command us to abide in His love.  It has a staying power, that we are to stay, continue in, be in the love of Christ.  It is a radical idea for an adult although I do believe children grasp it better than we older ones do.  Of course one of the reasons He calls us to such a dramatic, life changing command is so that His love will pour though us not only back to Him but on to others. And in so many ways all throughout Scripture He is saying “I love you better.” Nothing proves this more than the cross, nothing. And yet as I truly delight in the fact that Lily knows I love her best,  I so often find God calling me to understand that He really DOES love me best, far more than I could ever love Him or anyone else. Paul says it well:

“Who can separate us from the love of Christ? … For I am convinced  that neither death, nor life, nor angels,  nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 8: 35, 38-9