For God so Loved the World

Our little man is now 6 weeks old.  I love him so much, and it grows daily.  I am nervous that my heart may explode by week 10, because it is beginning to get out of hand.  I even love his cute little cry.  He makes the most adorable face when he cries, and it melts my heart.  I have been married to my husband, Joel, for two years and we have been together seven.  I have a deeper love for him, and I hope that I always will.  I love my husband more than any other person.

Yet, the type of love that I feel for my two men is very different.  My love that I have for my husband is rooted in a deep respect and admiration for him as a son of God, leader, man, husband, and now father. It is an intimate love, both emotionally and physically.  If I could sum up my love for my son in one word, it would be protective.  I have never felt a desire to protect someone this strongly in my entire life.  He has changed me to my core.  We went on a family walk two days ago and my husband was carrying Jimmy.  A car started backing up towards them, and I immediately moved to the car side without blinking.  It was not a thought.  It was an unconscious response to a threatening stimulus.  I would give my life for him.  I would do anything to keep him from harm.  He is priceless.

This revelation of how it feels to be a parent has rocked me.  Most of us can quote John 3:16 if we have been in the church world for any length of time.  We can spew it out without giving it any thought, because we have become numb to its power.  The gospel message of God sending his son into the world as a BABY for the sole purpose of dying a terrible death and rising from that grave in order to save the very sinners that put him there has new meaning to me now that I am a parent.  I am not capable of this.  We are made in the image of God. Virtually all parents feel the need to protect their children.  This is a feeling that we get from our father in heaven.  He felt protective over his son, but he gave him regardless.

"For God so loved the world..." is not something to spew out of our mouths without giving those powerful words thought, reverence, and praise.  Those words should bring us to our knees every single time we hear them.  It is a saving love, if we accept it and make him Lord of our lives.  That is a love that I am not capable of understanding, but am so thankful that I have received.  I praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead.  God gave us his son out of love, and Jesus paid it all.