1 John 3:1 – 3 “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of [a]God! Therefore the world does not know [b]us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
Today is Valentine’s Day. St. Valentine is the patron saint of lovers, epileptics, and beekeepers. By some accounts, St. Valentine was a Roman priest and physician who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Christians by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus about 270. According to legend, St. Valentine signed a letter “from your Valentine” to his jailer’s daughter, whom he had befriended and healed from blindness. Another common legend states that he defied the emperor’s orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war.
What kind of love would compel a man to flout an all – powerful Roman emperor to help people? For that matter, what kind of love is currently compelling Chinese Christians in Wuhan to hand out masks and to preach the Gospel in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak? The first Chinese doctor who reported the Coronavirus threat was punished by his own government but yet persisted in raising the alarm. This brave doctor recently died of Coronavirus; he was a Christian. The poem he wrote is circulating on the internet; it will move you to tears. So, what force moved St. Valentine? What force is moving the Chinese Christians of Wuhan? This force is the love of God that they have experienced, a powerful, overwhelming kind of love that strengthens the weak, gives courage to the coward, and compels people to demonstrate that love to strangers even at the risk of their own lives.
St. Valentine laid down his life for his faith. The Chinese Christians are risking their lives. And all of these sacrifices are because Jesus, God’s only Son, who was perfect and without sin, gladly laid down His life to die a shameful death on a Roman cross for the sins of all of us. The song in the video says, “How deep the Father’s love for us! How vast beyond all measure. That He should give His only Son to make a wretch his treasure.” Apart from the love of God, all of us are wretches who would never make it into heaven. But a perfect holy loving God has made a way for anyone who will accept the sacrifice of Jesus and believe on His Name.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, we don’t understand why you were willing to die for us, but we are grateful that you did so. We can’t understand that kind of love, but we can accept it without understanding it. Lord, forgive our sins! Heal us emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. And thank you for your sacrifice. We bless your Name! And thank you that we will one day be with you in heaven. Amen.
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