Thursday, March 29, 2012

Who Loves Ya Baby?

By Brenda Boen
March 29, 2012 

Years ago that was the trademark line of Detective Kojak on TV.  But have you ever really thought about who really loves you?  That is the inherent need for every human being, to love and be loved.  It doesn’t matter what we have in life, where we live, what we do or how we spend our time.  The bottom line is that we want to love and be loved.  We can be at the top of our game or be at the lowest point in our life.  We still want to be loved, by someone who cares about us and our well-being. 

Recently my grandson got his feelings hurt while playing with all of his cousins and sort of disappeared for a very brief time to see if we had missed him.  It didn’t take him long to appear in front of me crying “Doesn’t anyone even care?”  To be honest, I’ve said the same thing many times over the years.  We all want verification that we are important.  We all need affirmation that we are loved on a regular basis.  Without love, what is left? 

We are loved by family and close friends.  Often times it comes from strangers.  “How can that be?” you might ask.  “How could someone who doesn’t even know me love me?”  What about loving you before you were even born?  Ever thought about that?  Your parents loved you even before you were born because you were, most likely, a product of their love between each other.  And they had already decided beforehand that you were going to be loved and loved dearly. 

There is someone else who loved you before you were even thought about.  In fact He created you.  God loved you so much before you were even born many years ago.  He created a world for you to live in.  He created the food you eat.  He created the water you drink and bathe in and wash your clothes in.  He created the air you breathe.  In fact, He created you in His image!  Think about that for a moment.  God thinks so highly of you that you were created to bear His image and provides everything you need to sustain you. 

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.  And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.”   Genesis 1:27-31 

So do you feel loved now?  God made you more important than the fish and the animals.  And there are some very beautiful fish and animals that He created.  He created you special.  You are beautiful.  You are God’s masterpiece. 

Think about what life would be like if God created it differently from the way He did.  We could have had dark skies all the time, grass that hurts when we walk on it, food that doesn’t taste good and people incapable of love.  God made this world and it is so beautiful.  If you are in doubt, try Googling nature photos.  When visiting the Grand Canyon for the first time my comment was “If anyone doubts God created everything, they won’t now!” 

Do you go through daily living appreciating people and the things around you?  Or do you complain about what is wrong with the world.  God created everything and said it was good.  The bad in the world is a result of sin and Satan.  We can exist, even with the bad, and realize how loved we are and appreciate everything.  Don’t miss life by being preoccupied by its flaws.  Instead of taking off your shoes to feel the feathery grass beneath our feet, we complain that it’s growing so fast we don’t have time to mow it.  We complain that traffic is too slow.  We look in the mirror and find that our nose is too big or our hair looks terrible.  And we complain about all the sin in the world.  But guess what?  God loved you so much that He did something very profound so that you can be free from sin which results in death. 

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   John 3:16 

God made a way for you to escape sin’s grip.  All you have to do is accept His gift of eternal life!  When you do you will find that you are truly living.  So let me ask you again.  Who loves ya, baby?  God does!

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