Why is love so important? It is the birthplace of faith and hope. “We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). When my grand nephew Will was only a few weeks old his mother placed him in my arms and sat down across from me. The baby’s eyes never left his mother’s face, as if to say, “Have you abandoned me?” Though he didn’t cry, his little body couldn’t relax until I handed him back, feeling sorry for being the occasion of so much anxiety for him.

I was impressed again by the bond between mother and child, even from a very early time. I believe that little Will’s capacity for loving and bonding when he grows up was being formed even at this early day by parents who loved him. That love will be a reservoir for him, just as God’s love is a reservoir for us from which we draw faith and hope: “see what great love the Father has for us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are! (1John 3:1)

It would not have mattered to Will if I were rich or beautiful or sweet smelling, he knew only one face that he trusted completely. When God sought to draw a people to Himself in an unbelieving world, He sought out Abraham and Sarah who hungered for a child. God propelled the journey to salvation with a bond that would carry on weaker and stronger for generations until His own son would appear and his mother be declared “blessed”. (Luke 1:47) One infant after another grew up and responded to the love of God and led His people for a season.

The transition from human love to love for a holy God is different for everyone. The seventeenth century scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote of his discourse with Jesus, “Take comfort; you would not be looking for me if you had not already found me” Jesus himself said, “Let any who is thirsty come to me and drink . Whoever believes in me, . . . rivers of living water will flow from within them. (John 7:38) In believing we trust and in trust we receive, for “we love because He First loved us.”

Love in Him,

Prue