Who doesn’t feel even just a twinge of appreciation, or perhaps something stronger like affection, when you learn that you are the object of someone’s love? Perhaps when you were in school, you got the little chalky, heart-shaped candies (like those shown here) on Valentine’s Day, or someone sent you an anonymous flower to declare that friendship or love was in someone’s heart for little old you! That’s a faint reflection of what God thinks of you and me, if you read very far in a bible. If you have seen the guy at the televised sporting event, you might even recall that John 3:16 is what his sign said -- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Perhaps you can even quote this phrase from memory that Jesus spoke as He attempted to teach a curious and puzzled man named Nicodemus. As Randy Gill has reminded us, “Love Like You” is not just an emotion-filled moment, or even a years-long commitment. It’s a lifetime-shaping challenge to show Him to others.
Randy has not said what this 2010 song’s inspiration was, although it has been included among the music collection that he and others have entitled ‘Fearless for You’. Perhaps what Randy was getting at is suggested in the scripture associated with the song’s few details at one online site (see it below) -- John 17:23. Jesus was praying just before he was going to be arrested, tried illegally, beaten savagely, and then shamefully crucified. He needed reassurance, particularly that his mission to train 12 specially chosen men would not fail, and that others would cling to the message about Him that they would receive from them, and that they would stick together. That’s how Jesus defined love – …complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. So, Jesus -- that’s the hardest part of love, sticking together, through thick and thin? Need we be fearful, if we have a love like You wanted us to inherit? That little four-letter word is often confused with gentleness, maybe even fragility. But not with Jesus. It’s a word He used often; indeed, it appears in the bible some 686 times (in the NIV translation, according to the Bible Gateway search engine), including in 60 of the bible’s 66 books (it’s missing only in the NT’s book of Acts; and in the OT’s books of 2 Kings, and four of the minor prophets [Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Haggai]). Maybe it was used, especially by Jesus, because it is such a tough thing to do. That’s what Randy’s simple but incisive lyrics also communicate. Do this as He did it. In love, and in giving, so that’s a mouthful when you and I make such an attempt. Being more like Him takes a pretty long time, and it’s not a surprise when the exercise feels like two steps forward followed by one step backwards. That’s you and me. Randy and the rest of us are in the same category, aren’t we? Why else would he have used ‘us’ in his lyrics? It’s a group effort, as much for us as it was for those fellas in the 1st Century.
Fortunately, we have a way of fortifying our spirit of love, as Randy’s other words remind us. It’s another habit we gather from watching Him – Prayer. Jesus did this as often perhaps as He did when He was loving people, and we could guess that that must have been a synergistic experience for Him. Connecting with the One who is love (1 John 4:8, 16) makes that connection unbreakable, as the beloved apostle told us. That’s not a frail, kinda delicate thing. God isn’t brittle, just because He was killed. He let it happen, so that His utter power – with love as its engine -- could be displayed to its fullest extent. That’s what you and I tap into when we have His love in us. Maybe He might have added ‘handle with care’, when He told the disciples to love, huh? Make sure you tell others it’s His love, flowing through yourself, so that they will know where they can go to plug in also.
See some scant details about the song here: https://wordtoworship.com/song/116470
See information on the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Necco-Candy-SweetHearts.jpg (English: An array of Necco Sweethearts (conversation hearts). Little, chalky pieces of candy with phrases written on them; available around Valentine's Day.) This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. The person who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the work to the public domain by waiving all of their rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. …found inside this document -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day
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