I have loved you with an everlasting love…Jeremiah 31:3

This is My commandment, that you love one another,

just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this,

that one lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:12-13

My dad loved to fish and he went often. It wasn’t for camaraderie because he went alone most of time. He loved the quietness of the river, being alone, the skill of the sport. And his “catch” was usually made up of perch and goggle-eye–small, bony fish but they were delicious! He would patiently pick the bones out for my sis and me and we’d finish one piece before he could get the next piece ready. Bill, my husband, took up the hobby. His dad didn’t fish, but Marcus, my dad, passed on his love of fishing to Bill. Pres, our eldest, followed in their footsteps, retreating often to the river with his rod and reel.

My Dad was an unusual man. He was reared in the country (and I do mean country!) with eleven brothers and sisters. He was not a talkative person and tended to be melancholy a lot of the time. But I always call him my “beloved” dad. I don’t remember him ever saying, “I love you, Anabel,” and hugs were rare, but I knew that he loved me. How did I know that? Remember? He “picked all of the tiny bones out of the fish for me.” He gave of himself to me. I knew he was proud of me. He sacrificed personally so that I would have what I needed. He provided for me’not just necessities, but things that I didn’t really need sometimes. He took me to Church and sang in the choir. We would sit out in the swing in the evenings–the smoke from his pipe discouraging mosquito attacks. All of those things meant love to me. He was a quiet part of my life.

I am bewildered by those people who cannot accept the fact that they are loved–passionately [1]–by Jesus. “But Anabel, your Dad was flesh and blood. It’s easy to believe someone loves you when you can touch him and watch him do things for you and talk to him.” I understand what you’re saying and I agree with you. I would so love to “feel” Jesus holding my hand–to see Him sitting on the edge of my bed when I’m bothered about something–listening intently to me while I pour out my heart to Him. Yes. That would be incredible!

Jesus has told me many times that He loves me. “And how do you know that, Anabel? Did you hear Him?” No, but He has written a letter to me, proclaiming His love, explaining His love, telling me about His love. I can believe Him, I can accept His love, I can walk enveloped in His love, or I can say to Him, “I don’t believe You. I cannot see You.” And because I cannot see Him, He is not there, right? No. If we think that way, we are calling Jesus a liar.

Bill and I “fell in love” through letters. He was overseas in the Navy and I was at home in Poteau. He began–cautiously–writing “sweet nothings” in his letters–how he thought about me–how he missed seeing me–how he was “falling in love” with me. We had been on one date before he left for the Great Lakes Naval Training Base and that one date had not caused any excitement for either of us. I had no reason to believe him. We didn’t really know each other all that well. But I would read his letters over and over again and I eventually “fell in love with the man who wrote me the love letters.”

Jesus has written us a love letter–the Bible. There is a recurring theme threaded through that letter–His never-failing, deep love for us. We can respond negatively or positively to those sweet words of love that He has written. And, as we believe Him, we will fall more and more in love as we read and reread His letter to us. One day, He will come back from “overseas” and what a wonderful time of rejoicing that will be!

Believe it! Live it! Love Him and let Him love you!

[1] passionate: having or showing strong feelings

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