Be Mine by Marcia Lee Laycock

 

Be Mine by Marcia Lee Laycock

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

I ripped the cellophane wrapping off the small package with delight. The cards my mother had bought that morning were perfect. They were bright red with hearts all over them and short funny sayings appropriate for Valentine’s Day. I spent all that evening addressing the envelopes and signing my name to all the cards. All, that is, but one.

There was one card in the package that was larger than the rest. It said, “Be Mine,” and the verse inside was not funny. In fact, to me, it was so serious that my heart beat faster. This card was going to someone I thought was deserving of something so special. His name was Darryl. I was ten years old and I was “in love.”

I did not sign my name to the card addressed to Darryl because I was afraid. I did not want to admit my feelings for fear of being rejected. What if he just laughed? What if he threw the card in the trash and someone else saw that it was from me? What if he left it behind on an empty desk for anyone to see? No. I would not put my name on that card, but I would pray that Darryl would know who it was from.

Giving your love and affection to someone is a risk. You become vulnerable to being hurt, to rejection, perhaps even to ridicule. Jesus knew all about that when He agreed to be born as a tiny babe on earth. He knew that many would spurn His love. Many would scorn his affection. Many would just laugh. And then a mob would demand His death. No one would understand. None of it would look like a fairy-tale and the ending was anything but happy. It would look like defeat and it would stink of death.

But it was the greatest act of love this world has ever seen. Christ gave up the glories of heaven, took on the physical limitations of a human body and then allowed that body to be tortured and killed. He did it all so that we would be able to live in the presence of His Father’s love eternally. He did it with an anguished cry of, “Be Mine!”

Jesus was neither afraid nor embarrassed to sign his name on the card that revealed His love for us. His card was a cross erected on a hill outside the city of Jerusalem. He signed it with His own blood and when it was delivered to the world at the moment he died, all the barriers between us and God were torn down. Forgiveness was ours for the asking and hope became a reality.

It was therefore true when the apostle Paul said to the people in Rome – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39, NIV)

That is a Valentine worth cherishing.

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Thank you for taking the time to read. My name is Marcia Lee Laycock and I invite you to follow me if you’d like to read more of my work about finding your way home, into the arms of Jesus. 😊 You can find me on Medium at Pond’rings and Words on the Wing and a few other publications along the way.

For more information about my writing and speaking ministry, check out my website 

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Your Secret Admirer– by Ramona Heikel

I love the tradition of giving Valentines, and was delighted in elementary school when we celebrated Valentine’s Day. What a sweet way of confirming your special friendship and love to particular people in your class. It was so exciting to know that a classmate liked you well enough to make you a red construction-paper heart—maybe even adding a white lace doily—with their handwritten message on the back. Of course, since it was heartbreaking for some students to receive fewer cards than most (or no cards), compassionate teachers started requiring that you gave a Valentine to everyone. But even then, you could reserve your biggest or best Valentine for your favorite friends.

Then came the idea of signing the card as “Your Secret Admirer”. Ooh, how exciting! If someone didn’t want to sign their name, they surely must have extra-strong feelings of love that went beyond friendship. I remember how disappointed I was when Bruce, a boy I had a crush on, signed his name “From Bruce” on his valentine to me. Don’t get me wrong, I was glad to get an unforced store-bought card from him, because at least he considered me one of his many friends. But if I’d gotten a card from a Secret Admirer, I would have hoped that it had been from Bruce, and been thrilled at the possibility that I was significant to him.

Lately I have been noticing in the Old Testament how deep and constant God’s love is for the nation of Israel, no matter how often they ignore and reject him. I am reminded that there was a time that I wasn’t aware of God or his love. I was fifteen when I heard the message that God loved me. Before that, I believed that God loved “the world” as one big round object, with all of our faces blurred, and him not knowing or caring what our names were. This new revelation, that the far away creator of the universe knew me, and wanted me to know him personally, changed everything.

As I got older I began to see how even before I was aware of him, he was giving me gifts, Valentines signed “Your Secret Admirer”. One example of his gifts is my best friend, who I got to know in fourth grade. From then on, she has been my constant, loyal friend, and I now realize she was also my assurance that I was loved, and lovable through many confusing, bleak years. It wasn’t until tenth grade that we both heard the gospel at a high school Campus Life meeting and put our faith in Jesus. Yet during all those previous years, God was giving us little Valentine reminders of his desire to walk with us.

You have a secret admirer, too. And if he’s not so secret and you already know who he is, do you realize that he is your admirer, your friend who loves you constantly? Or do you feel, like I did, that you’re just a nameless, faceless, insignificant part of a big world that God loves? Or that his favorite hobby is catching you failing and sinning? Consider how God spoke about his admiration of Job in Job 1:8; think about the individualized “whoever” in John 3:16; look at his longing to always be with us wherever he is, in John 14:1-3; and read the scriptures that talk about his love, how he first loved us, in 1 John 4:7-19.


(These are Valentines from Bruce and another friend Katie from my grade school scrapbook.)


Posted by Ramona
www.happilywriting.com