God's Valentine
John Fischer

The two most universal symbols of Valentine's Day for children are still the little single-sheet cutout cards you can buy in bulk for all your classmates (and one for the teacher), and those pastel-colored, heart-shaped candies carrying two-word sayings like "LOVE YOU" and "BE MINE."

Well, thinking like a child -- as those who enter heaven always think -- God wants us to be His Valentine, and He has put a big "BE MINE" on His Valentine to us. Remember, He has set us aside to be His Bride. In Christ's miraculous death and resurrection, God has offered us His heart. He has communicated a simple message to the whole human race: "BE MINE," and it is now up to us to decide whether or not we want to be.

Of course that's the amazing thing about it. It's an offer. It's His desire expressed to us. It's an invitation. We're being courted. It's the desire of His heart to have a love relationship with us, but a relationship, in order to be a relationship, has to go both ways. That is precisely why we were created: to have the opportunity to respond to Him. To miss this is the miss the point of our existence.

God wanted a relationship with someone like Him, so He made us in His image. And then He sent us this very big heart with an empty cross on it and the message "BE MINE."

My wife asked me this last weekend why there weren't more big red hearts strung all over town. I answered that it was probably because the weather is so nice here that Valentine's Day is not as compelling as it would be in a colder climate entrenched in the middle of a long, cold, grey winter. In many parts of the country, people are looking for an excuse to celebrate right about now, and Valentine's Day provides just that.

Well God wants us to celebrate, too. When He established the nation of Israel in the Old Testament He commissioned a number of annual feasts and celebrations. Celebrations have always been important to Him. So if you're fortunate to have a special person in your life, celebrate that love today, but also realize that the best human relationship is only a picture of the greater love we all have with the Father. And today, every time you see one of those red hearts, think of it as God's special message to you and enjoy a quiet celebration in your heart.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love" (John 15:9) …or in other words: "BE MINE."

PDL