Be mine.

 

Be mine. It's the simplest valentine there is. Asking someone to belong to you, to be yours. And for you to belong to him or her.

We all want to belong. From the moment we are very small, we want and need and crave acceptance and approval, which all lead to a sense of belonging.  As we grow, we create little secrets with our friends, whispered words shared quietly, creating a lasting bond of friendship through trust.

In young adulthood, we continue to join clubs and organizations and to strive to be invited to be a part of something. We want to belong. We want to know that we are important to someone. We try desperately to create and maintain relationships so that we...are someone's.

Belonging works both ways. As we belong to someone, they - we hope - belong to us. We care, we nurture, we love. By claiming that they are "mine" I pledge my loyalty, my energy, and my honor to them. I am not only mine any more; I am theirs and I owe it to them to be everything I should be. After all, they want me to be theirs.

Be Mine.

Isn't that exactly what Jesus is saying to us? Didn't He give us the greatest Valentine of all? After all, He sacrificed His own life so that we could...be His.

He personally carried our sins
    in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
    and live for what is right.
By his wounds
    you are healed.

1 Peter 2:24 NLT

When we belong to Christ we experience a love that cannot be compared to any other on earth. Because it is the only True Love. And nothing can ever, ever separate us from Him and His love.

 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Yet on Valentine's Day, a day that is now so far removed from its original meaning, we find ourselves rushing and fretting all the way to the card store to purchase someone else's expression of love. For $3.00. We try to express our love through boxes of candy, bouquets of flowers, and heart-shaped EVERYTHING.  Not that I am knocking those items as kind gestures, but I just think there can be so much more to a day that is set aside to show...Love.

In John 13:34-35 we read the words of Jesus: 

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”       

He wants, even commands us, to be His. His disciples. His students. His voice. His Love. He wants us to...Be Mine.