True love
This week I heard a story about a woman who wore a locket on a chain around her neck. She had never been married, so her friends wondered whose picture could be inside. Was it someone she had loved and lost – perhaps a member of her family, her mother or maybe a brother; perhaps a love that had never been requited? One day they got their answer, but not until the lady died. Inside the locket was indeed someone she loved, but not quite what they had expected. When they opened it, they didn’t even find a picture; they found these words: “Though you have not seen him, you love him.” It’s a quotation from 1 Peter 1:8, and it’s speaking of the Lord Jesus. He was this woman’s greatest love. And those were beautiful words to wear so close to her heart.
Is that how we think, and speak, of being a Christian? We may not have seen Jesus – none of us has, not yet – but we love him. Christians are those who follow Jesus; we trust him, we believe in him, we obey him, and so on. And we love him. This is not something merely romantic or sentimental; it is for men as well as for women, for grown-ups as well as for kids. As far as I can tell, Peter was a real man’s man and yet he knew what it was to love Jesus. After all, that was the question Jesus put to him after he had failed his Lord so badly: “Do you love me?” It’s a very simple question, but is there one more searching? And Peter was able to reply, no doubt through tears, “Lord, you know that I love you.” When, I wonder, did we last tell the Lord that we love him?