Try Love.
For
decades little candy hearts embossed with catchy phrases has popularly
dominated as a Valentine tradition. The hearts come in all sorts of colors, say
just about everything from I love you to I miss you and make your heart’s
confessions a little easier to share.
The original
candy heart was a combination of concepts by two brothers, Oliver Chase and
Daniel Chase, which turned into the invention of the first candy maker and the
formation of the New England Confectionary Company or NECCO. Each year 100,000
pounds of the candy is made and 8 billion Sweethearts hearts are sold in six
weeks.
This
year, there are a few less hearts available.
NECCO
was sold and there was not enough time to create sufficient amount of hearts to
meet demand.
Scripture
says:
“My beloved friends, let us continue to love each
other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and
experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t
know the first thing about God, because God is love—so
you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us:
God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the
kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but
that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the
damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.” (1 John 4:7-10 MSG)
What
happens when what is expected is no longer available? True joy is the
appreciation of what you own. We can miss out on a great thing trying to make
it something it was never meant to be. Have you ever considered the
ramifications of losing what was common? I believe that there are so many
things we take for granted when there are those who wish for what we waste. Remember
when you prayed for what you are now attempting to discard?
Love
is not only from God but it absolutely is God. He is the very essence of Love. He
loves but He is also more than the verb and the emotion. If He were a fragrance,
He would not only be the scent He would be the oil. He is the root of our
accomplishments, the strength in our success stories, and our platform to stand
on.
But,
what happens when we experience pain, rejection, disappointment, or great
challenge. Is God not there also? It is in these places that we feel that God
has removed His Love and we retreat from our celebration of His goodness and
our pursuit of His presence. When we aren’t receiving the tangible blessings we
tend to disappear.
You
see, the interesting thing about the popular conversation hearts that seemed to
exist infinitely is that despite their lack of physical presence love still
exists.
“And I am convinced that
nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither
angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for
today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate
us from God’s love.” Romans 8:38 (NLT)
God is
Love in the excitement of great days and the lulls of tough times. Instead of
basing His love for you on what you can physically see. Love Him in the midst
of it all. You didn’t see the car that missed you, the relationship that could
have hurt you, the opportunity that could have bankrupted you, the food that
could have poisoned you but His Love was there.
The
Sweethearts will be back next year and God’s tangible blessings always return.
Side
note, I learned that there are other versions of the original candy hearts that
will suffice while the original rebuilds its stock. But, there is nothing like
the original.
I
challenge you to take note of God’s endless love.
God is
Love.
He is
more than what you see, feel, taste, or touch. He simply is everything. He is.
Try
Love He never runs out…
