loved

This Christmas a very kind and lovely person gave me a book for a present. The book is called, ‘Live Loved’. That is what all of us need and are looking for. In 1943 a man called Abraham Maslow published a paper about what he called ‘A Hierarchy of Needs’. Right in the centre he put the need for love. Actually, I think it is probably the most important because if we know we are loved, even though we might be deprived in other areas of life, we are able to carry on.

The apostle Paul suffered great hardships for the gospel but because he was secure in the love of God and certain of his call and purpose he could endure. In 2 Corinthians ch11 v23-27 Paul outlines what he went through in serving Christ. Part of it says, ‘Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. You need to know you are loved to go through all of that!!

It is a wonderful thing to be loved. When you know you are loved and are secure in that love then you can do anything. Jesus knew he was loved. When he was baptised in the Jordan we read that heaven opened and the spirit descended on him in the form of a dove. People heard a voice saying, ‘This is my son, this is my boy and I am very pleased with him’. If we knew in our hearts that that is how Father God thinks of us, then think of the difference it would make to our every day lives and to the world.

The only time Jesus didn’t know the love of Father was on the cross. At that time, as the weight of our sin and rebellion was placed on him, heaven was opened to us so that we might always know Father’s love. How great is the love that the Father has lavished upon us!