When we first moved to Spring, Texas, our only daughter was two and a half years old. I hoped that there would be other children near by, so we were delighted to find that the neighbors on each side included little girls nearly her age. As they grew older the three of them became friends and moved about in each others’ homes. The other two girls came to seem like family to me, and I was friends with their mothers. Today if one of those two women, both of whom live far away, arrived at our front door, I would welcome her as my own.

Maybe this is why it’s so easy for me to believe that God loves those who love and companion His own son: How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the mountain of life; in your light we see light. Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. (Psalm 36:7-10)

The Psalms are full of spontaneous expressions of love and sweetness in the psalmist’s relationship to God. Sometimes they almost burst with expressions of joy and fulfillment.

The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand. (Psalm 37:23)

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. (Psalm 119:103)

Paul, who initiated the arrests of Christians and had them imprisoned, wrote, Love is patient, love is kind. . . It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

(1Corinthians 13:4-7)

These are words of love expressed thousands of years apart. When we read them, we are listening to the love of God for ourselves.

Love in Him,

Prue