Love

Well hey everyone! I'm riding in a van right now on my way to the ocean! Everyone else in here is being awfully quiet, and I've started thinking hard. Today the focus of my thoughts is love. Basically, I'm trying (and failing- big time) to describe God's endless, crazy, unconditional, agape love. Still, I want so badly to at least communicate a vague definition of this supernatural emotion, because then maybe everyone who hears it will be as excited about life, Jesus, death, and especially witnessing, as I am!
God is love. True love. Earthly love is modeled after God's love, but nothing we find here can compare. Not even close. Seriously. So, think for a second about the love we get from other people. Maybe your parents are your main source of love. I know that I have parents who love me more than I can understand. They basically do everything for me- working to have money to buy me things, cooking, going to my sporting events, musical performances, teaching me about life and music, making sure that I know Jesus is my friend. Maybe it's from a husband or wife, or a girlfriend or boyfriend. Would they do anything for you? Possibly. Would they do anything for you, even if you said you hated them, beat them regularily, and hired someone to have them tortured and killed? Probably not. The situation just described is real. We did that. Jesus is that person, the one whom we had tortured. At some point, you might've given your heart to God. You prayed that the Holy Spirit would live in your heart, blah blah blah. You promised yourself to Jesus. In a sense, you were engaged to him- set to be together forever in heaven, not to give yourself to anyone but him, to love him first and foremost. Then, the abuse began. The relationship became disfunctional as you started exploring other options. If you are like me, you've cheated on God. I forgot that I promised him my life, or I at least tried to deny it. I found a different source of love and another thing to adore. I left. Can you imagine? Jesus gave me everything I could ever need and more, and I left! Yes, I am insane and stupid and downright cruel. At this point, my story could describe a number of human relationships, but the similarities pretty much stop here, because Jesus didn't say to me, "Adios chica, you're the one who's missing out. Have fun wallowing in your guilt and loneliness, you deserve it." Instead, Jesus told me, "You are beautiful. I love you more than anything in the world." Wait, what?? I just trampled this guy, took his heart and stuck it in a blender, and he's not mad? He's not going to get as far away from me as possible? That would be the logical thing to do. I mean, what if it happens again? I wish I could say that I felt so remorseful that I never hurt him again. Sadly, I can't say that. Sure, I apologized. I genuinely asked for complete forgiveness, to begin again, and like clockwork, I got it. Forgive me? yes. How about now, even though I told you I wasn't gonna leave you again? yes. Again please, I know I've betrayed your trust but I'd really like just one more chance. yes. Okay, so maybe two more chances. yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE? I don't understand what kind of person would do that. After the first or second or third time, he knew it would happen again. Jesus knew I would break his heart again and blow off his offer for perfect love, preferring instead the sketchy affection that can be found in friendships and dating and chasing boys and whatever else. He knew, and he still took me back. He's still taking me back, several times a day.
The only explanation for this: Jesus loves me. Such simple, overused words, such profound behavior. He loves me more than anyone has ever loved their children or their spouse, more than I love my friends (which is a lot!) He longs for me, to dance with me and hold me safe in his arms. The same goes for you. Jesus will seek you, and he won't give up on you. Not because he has to but because he wants you more than anything in the world. God can create for himself anything that he desires, but instead, he aches for us. He vows to love us even if we stop asking for another chance, even if we choose to push him out of our lives.
How can you deny a love like that??

John 3:16
For God SO loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.