20.3.08

of crimson hearts

1. two friends hugging each other.
2. a man taking a bullet meant for his friend.
3. wife and husband kissing.
4. parents staying up all night taking care of their sick child.

which of the above is love?
i'm sure your answer would be along the lines of all of the above.

love, is so abstract, that at times, it's hard to define love exactly. dictionaries have tried, but can it really define love? can love be defined in words?

what do you perceive as love?

many a times, we think we understand love. but do we actually really really understand the meaning of true love? love is now a word badly misused by the world. how many actually understand and actually mean it before going around saying "i love you" to every tom, dick and jane just so that they can hope of nurturing a relationship based around affection and attraction intensified by raging hormones?

when we think of love, what comes to mind? coupling and dating and valentines and all? we are disillusioned by what the world wants us to perceive as love. to love someone can mean just having fun together, maybe at most a caring hug or a warm smile...love does not need to be the affectous love for another...

do we truly understand what true love is?

the greatest love story isn't the one between romeo or juliet or any soap operas out there for the record. this love story is so great, that isaac watts once said, "love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all." it is also sung by rachel lampa...
No greater love than this
That you should lay down your life
For someone such as me
I'd spend a life time wondering why
The beauty of heaven is here in my heart
And I know there can be
No greater love
Than this




and indeed, it is about a man laying down his life for another. it sounds dramatic, but some argue : so what, there's a lot of people who die for their friends, or take a bullet meant for another.

but how many of you would die for your enemies? how many of you would die for one who hates you, who rejects you, who persecutes you, who humiliates you, who mocks you? and not just one, but thousands, millions of them... would you?
and this death is not just a bullet in the head where all glory goes to you and you barely suffer anything, or being sentenced to the electric chair. this was one which was humiliating and torturous.
at that time, to be hung on the cross, was the worst punishment a criminal could receive. it was a public humiliation, and only the worse of the worst criminals get it. this man took it one step further. not only was he whipped and spat at and mocked, his head was pierced with thorns and he was forced to carry his own cross for a long journey. as he walked along that mud road, the people whom he loved swore at him, mocked him. every time he stumbled, the guards, instead of helping him, whipped him to get up. and upon reaching Golgotha, the place of crucifiction, his hands and legs were pierced with nails. not those normal nails that hold chairs together, but nails that would hold giant tents up. and there he was left to die.
it would seem okay, if you were guilty of killing 4000, causing virus outbreak, torturing 70000 kids and all, but to be innocent, would you be able to do so?
we whine when we get one stroke of cane when we're innocent. yet this man, being whipped by whips that had hooks and the end designed to rip your flesh out, took all of it willingly, saying "forgive them for they know not what they do".

he's the reason we live, the reason we breathe, the reason why we have something to smile about. if he isn't, he'd better start being it. his name is Jesus.

upon his shoulders as he took up the cross, was our weight of sin. imagine carrying the weight of one man's sin. he took up the whole world's sin, for those who came and died, those who were living, and those whom were yet to see earth. and it's only by grace and love that we can stand here today, knowing that our sins are cleansed and heaven awaits us. indeed, this is love that exceeds all else, love undeserved, love so abundant, love that never fails, love that the world could never give and love that the world could never take away.

God loved us so much. are we actually responding to his love?