This morning, I relived the day my father died. I’m not sure how or why it came to me, but tears poured forth as I recalled every detail and felt every emotion.
That day, several years ago, it seemed to take forever for me to make arrangements and drive the four hours to be by my father’s side. My sister and his wife were already there—they had been there all day. For almost seven hours, Dad hung on. Finally, I arrived, kissed him on the forehead and told him it was okay if he needed to go. Within 15 minutes, he was gone. To this day, I’m astonished at how patient and strong he was as he lay there in his hospital bed with his machines off, struggling for breath all day waiting for me to come to him.
Oh, how my daddy must have loved me to suffer that way…just to say good-bye!
Then, I considered the love of God the Father. His love is not like my earthly daddy’s love—His love is so much deeper, more passionate and more intense. It is such a great love, I find it hard to comprehend.
But as I look back over my life, my Heavenly Father kept His hand upon me and patiently waited for me to accept Him for 27 years. Yes…I spent 27 long, painful years trudging along trying to do it all myself without accepting the gift of Godly love and salvation my Father had available for me all along.
Did you know that immense love of our Heavenly Father is available to anyone willing to receive it? As we approach this Easter season, I encourage my readers to really listen to the story of that first Easter. I pray that each might accept the sacrifice Christ made on the cross that day as if it were made for him or her. Christ felt His suffering that day was worth the trouble—because He loves us—a love that is hard for our earthly minds to grasp, a love even more intense than earthly people can feel and act upon. So, I ask today, are you willing to receive that love?
As always, please feel free to send any prayer request to sharingalonglifesjourney[at]gmail[dot]com. May you have a blessed week!
“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
