Tuesday, February 26, 2008

A Love Worth Giving

This is the Inspiration section out of this week's section in our study of Ephesians (It is an excerpt taken from Max Lucado's A Love Worth Giving)



What would it be like to become flesh?



This question surfaced as I was golfing recently. Waiting my turn to putt, I squatted down to clean my ball and noticed a mountain of ants beside it. Must have been dozens of them, all over each other. A pyramid of motion at least half an inch tall.



I don't know what you think when you see ants on a green as you are waiting to putt. But here is what I thought: Why are you guys all bunched up? You have the whole green. Why, the entire golf course is yours to spread out in. Then it occurred to me. These ants are nervous. Who could blame them? They live under a constant meteor shower. Every few minutes a dimpled orb comes crashing into their world. Bam! Bam! Bam! Just when the bombing stops, the mallet-swinging giants arrive. If you survive their feet and sticks, they roll a meteor at you. A golf green is no place for an ant.



So, I tried to help them. Leaning down where they could hear me, I invited, "Come on, follow me. We'll find a nice spot in the rough. I know it well." Not one looked in my direction. "Hey, ants!" Still no reply. Then I realized, I don't speak their language. I don't speak Ant. Pretty fluent in the idiom of Uncle, but I don't speak Ant.



So what could I do to reach them? Only one thing. I needed to become an ant. Go from six feet two inches to teeny-weeny. From 200-plus pounds to tenths of an ounce. Swap my big world for their tiny one. Give up burgers and start eating grass. "No thanks," I said. Besides, it was my turn to putt.



Love Goes the distance...and Christ traveled from limitless eternity to be confined by time in order to become one of us. He didn't have to. He could have given up. At any step along the way he could have called it quits...He didn't, because He is love. And "love...endures all things" (1 Cor. 13:4-7 NKJV). He endured the distance.




If you're playing the game.....time to clean out your microwave oven. GO!

5 comments:

His Girl said...

micro clean. drat. that was overdue. eek. how does it get so NASTY?

back to your blog...
that is a great analogy, and I love the connection with Love Endures All Things.

timely, no?

Becky said...

That was a great illustration!

I don't have a microwave, so I guess I got out of that one. ;)

Jenn said...

I love the insight that God gives you - then you are kind enough to share it with us. :o)

Cleaning game... watched the glass plate this weekend - but need to wipe the inside down. Will get to that after breakfast.

Gretchen said...

Thanks, S4J. So good.

He truly does endure it all for us.

Microwave? Ohhhkkkay...Mine has refried beans on it from this noon's repast, so it's probably good timing, anyway. :)

Jenster said...

What an interesting perspective!