So, I've been thinking about that old song by Marvin Hamlisch,
"What I did for love." Do you remember it? Somewhere in the refrain it says, " Won't forget, can't regret, what I did for love" So that got me thinking about all the actions done in the name of love, well ok, maybe lust, or at the very least, infatuation.
There was
Jacob at the well, who, with one glimpse of Rachel, singlehandedly threw off the stone covering the well head. And then, there was
Samson, who for love (lust) defied his parents and destroyed property just to have "this woman." And then,
Solomon, who for "love" married heathens if only for the purpose of wealth, fame, and momentary pleasure; all the while, losing the closeness he enjoyed with God. And then there is
David, who for lust alone, defiled a man's wife, murdered her husband, and destroyed his own family-- yep, what he did for love. Yea, right.
Well, wait a minute, is there ever progress in our thinking? Do we ever grow up while we're growing older? It is possible that
Solomon, later in life, began to finally understand the joys of married love and wrote about it in that seldom preached book, The Song. Think about it. The amazing relationship we can enjoy when we find the one true love that demands our attention, our focus, and our fascination. And yet one more, It was
Ruth, who when facing isolation and extinction as a result of the loss of her husband and family, and in deep despair, cried, "
Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God" (Ruth 1:16-17). That's it, love that finds its future in sacrifice and devotion.
If that wasn't enough...
and its not, there is God, who for the joys of eternal fellowship with his Son, said goodbye to
Jesus, and set Him on the path toward the greatest love story ever told. What I did for love is irrelevant when compared to what Jesus did for love. He died for me and you, that you might live for Him and
love Him.
So then, maybe this Valentine's season we might consider swapping out our lust for everything common and dying, for something Blessed and eternal. Just wondering...
MJC