I've been talking a lot to my beautiful friend who has a passion to reach out to muslims with the gospel. We've been talking about calling, love, and romance (because mutual attraction has developed and we had to decide whether or not we should try dating). This is some of my reflection on the reality of romance, the gospel, and the state of the world.
Romance is one of the deepest realities of the universe, and possibly one that angels do not understand. God is Love. God is a lover. God is the Lover. Our human romances are just tiny glimpses into the romancing love of God.
Lovers spend gobs of time just being together. The desire to be together trumps common sense, practicallity, sleep needs, food needs, bladder-emptying needs. People in love go to crazy lengths for even a moment together.
Lovers seek to please the other. They want to make the other feel comforted and comfortable. They give gifts that bless the other. They cook the other's favorite food.
One of the problems with many groups (I'm thinking particularly of any peoples that make women subserviant and less than human), is that there is no opportunity for romance, love is distorted and one of the deepest realities about the character and nature of God is stripped away leaving something base and foul. Societies that rape, murder, torture, and subjegate their women are societies full of the stench of death and the darkness of Satan.
The Lover makes the most beautiful bride. He goes to great lengths to win her. Then he makes her more beautiful. He invites, He is mysterious, He is a great pursuer, He is tender, He is at times harsh, He has a dialogue with humanity.
Yesterday I was trying to figure out what the deepest desire of my heart is. I wondered about serving God, pleasing God, knowing God. But, it was something even deeper than those. The deepest desire is to be loved by God.
We do not need to be in human romance to know Romance. I can be so romanced by Christ that I know no one else can measure up. Human romance helps paint the picture for us. God sometimes invites us to know romance on the human plain.
Even in our culture romance has been made into something self-gratifying and selfish. There is a focus on sex and emotions when romance is something so much deeper than those things (though it does include sex and emotions).
The Bible is this amazing story of God's pursuit of humanity - picture of the great Romance. It is a wholistic picture. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I have the affection of the Great Lover, the Great Romancer.
It is my prayer that I know His love more and more and that as I pursue earthly romance, I would come to know Christ's love and share Christ's love even more.
May you know the Great Pursuer and be romanced today!
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