Will You Be Mine?

Valentine’s Day was exciting in elementary school.  I looked forward to the class party with heart shaped cookies, and cupcakes with white icing, red sprinkles and a plastic heart.  Students would give out cards from their favorite cartoon characters.  The cards would most often include candy.  My favorite were the red heart-shaped lollipops.  I also remember getting those Sweethearts candies with the little messages written on them.  One of the messages read, “Be Mine.”  The person who gave the candy really didn’t want you to be theirs.  The classmate who intentionally tripped you two days earlier wasn’t really saying, “I Luv U” or “Hug Me”.  Those were just the messages on the candy. 

But there is One who really means it when He says, “Be Mine.”  When God says, “I love you”, He shows it and has the scars to prove it!  God has extended the invitation for us to be His people (Hebrews 8:10).  Jesus wants us to truly be His disciples (John 8:31).  When we are His, it changes the way that we love others.  Husbands who are His love their wives with the sacrificial love of God and honor them as much as they do their own bodies (Ephesians 5:25-29).  Wives who belong to God respect their husbands and possess the unfading inner beauty of a gentle spirit (1 Peter 3:1-4).  Singles who belong to God live in a way that honors God and recognize that their bodies are the temple of God.  Valentine’s Day and every day, God should be our first love!

​Will you make or renew your commitment to be His?  Will we show love to the God who demonstrated His love for us, although we were hard to love.  The call has already gone forth.  God has taken the risky first step of declaring His love for us.  Everyday God is essence asking each one of us, “Will you be Mine?”