My two-and-a-half-year-old has taken to saying “I love you too.” Not just when we say it to her but, incorrect in her grammar, she’ll just randomly give you a hug and say it unprompted. This youngest of four sisters is so secure in her knowledge that she is loved and adored by the whole family that she enters a room and announces “I’m back” or “I’m here”, imagining that we’d all just been waiting for her to arrive.
This got me thinking about how much God would love us to say that to him, unprompted, without thinking, safe in the knowledge that we are loved more than we could possibly imagine. As God Promises in Zephaniah:
“The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
How incredible is that promise! We are so loved by God that He sings over us. Doesn’t that call us to respond with “I love you too”?
I was in London a few weeks ago and while riding the underground, I noticed signs on every train that said something like this:
“If you feel unwell please do not stop the train, get off at the next stop and seek assistance there.”
In other words, London is not prepared to stop for you if you need help. Please do not hold the rest of us up under any circumstances!
I was reminded in church this week that God sent Jesus to die for me and to die for you. That if we were on the metaphorical train He would absolutely want us to pull that cord to stop the train, to hold everyone up if doing so would lead to our salvation.
He loves us so much that He asks us to come like little children, to enter the room with Him like my daughter enters the room, knowing absolutely that He was waiting for your entrance, knowing that we don’t have to hear the “I love you” to respond “I love you too”.
Esther Tregilgas coordinates our Activate training days and runs our social media accounts.