02/21/2025
I am wondering about my displays of love for God this morning. Have I ever thrown caution to the wind and done something totally outlandish and bold for Him... not out of reason but just because? Have I left behind my more stoic religious faith and loved Him completely from my heart? Have I loved Him with reckless abandon?
“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”
Matthew 22:37-38 ESV
Looking to the Bible we see examples of this, but none more explicit than that of Mary of Bethany. Her outpouring of love for Jesus set all decorum aside and was straight from the heart. She washed His feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and then after kissing them, she anointed Him with "Nard", which was a very expensive perfume, and immediately drew the ire of the disciples. The value of the perfume was equal to a year's wages and was anything but rational... all of this was an act of love that threw caution and social custom to the wind. This is a story that is told in all four gospels.
“Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.”
John 12:3 KJV
The three wise men gave Jesus gifts and although there were spiritual overtones to them, they were equally akin to protocol gifts; such as those a dignitary would give to another country's king. These gifts were truly appropriate for a king, but not given in abandon, but out of generally accepted custom.
“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
Matthew 2:11 KJV
What are love gifts that we could give to God? What could we do out of unfettered love that would show Him the depth of our caring? It wouldn't be a gift of something, but rather a gift of ourselves... a deep and personal gift of everything we are.
Once I gave my wife, Ann, a gift of love. It was her birthday and instead of giving her a traditional gift, I wrote a series of poems that led her on a treasure hunt. Each poem was an expression of love that, once interpreted, led her to the hiding place of an item (and the next note) that represented a particular feeling of love I was trying to express. So although none of the gifts were large, they were unmistakably me... the entire gift of poetry, adventure, and tiny gifts was the embodiment of how much I loved her. This gift threw tradition to the wind and replaced it with a single precious gift… my love for her.
So, what are the things Jesus loves? One thing he loves is when we give our treasure of time to others in personal service. So, a creative new way of giving ourselves would be to give ourselves to another in some way that is uniquely us, and just for His glory. This would make for a great gift of love. Doing something for someone recklessly, or in secret, and for His eyes only, would make a very good love gift, but it must be of ourselves and only for Him. Are you getting the idea?
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
Matthew 6:2 ESV
The person who first pulled up to the payment window at a fast-food restaurant and paid not only for himself, but also blindly for the car behind him, made a love gift to God, and it went viral. I saw a man that was down on his luck who tried to order lunch only to discover that the coupon he had (which would make that possible) had expired... I paid the difference without knowing him and despite the consternation of the cashier... that was a gift of love to the Lord, and I walked away feeling as if I had been fed. Not all gifts involve money... I mowed the grass of a single mother of four little children who lived next door for a couple of years without her asking and with no expectation beyond a smile... this was a gift of love for the Lord.
As you can see, there are many ways in which we can give love gifts to God that are beyond those of tradition or commandment. Have you ever been the recipient of such a love gift? Has your wife, your husband, a friend, or maybe even a total stranger, done something for you that came out of nowhere and was totally unexpected? How did that make you feel? My experience is that it gave me an incredibly warm feeling of being loved... loved by the gift giver and loved by our Heavenly Father. Gifts like these bless the receiver, but much more than they bless the giver. A was being given such a gift by a friend and like the Nard that Mary of Bethany gave to Jesus it was beyond the norm. I tried to refuse it but the giver asked me “Are you stealing my blessing from me?” Needless to say, I took the gift and knowing the spirit with which it was given I was blessed tenfold.
“give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
Luke 6:38 ESV
Showing love at unexpected times and in unexpected ways is an incredibly powerful expression of the depth with which we not only love one another... but love God. Ask yourself this morning if there is a reckless and unexpected love gift you can give God, and Jesus... one you can give them that is offered just because you love them and not out of necessity or obedience. Once your heart has shown you such a gift then throw caution to the wind and Give It, or Do It! Let scripture be your guide as you wash feet, give beyond all expectation, do something in secret, and give in this way without expecting any reward except a heavenly one… a blessing.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for allowing me to love you completely with reckless abandon. Father, I love you with my entire being, and I love you with not only my mind and imagination, but with all of my heart. If I seek to surprise you with a love gift, I hope that you understand the depth of my affection for you that led to it. You are not only the focus of my attention, awe, worship, and prayer, but also my unfettered love. Lord, I often ask you to guide me in what I do each day, but if I take your lessons and use them personally to give you a gift of love that is entirely of me, I hope it will please you and warm your heart as it does mine. Feel my love Father in the humble gifts I am able to give; may they bless you as much as my children's artwork on the refrigerator blesses me, and that by my giving, you will hold me extra tight as I pray thereafter. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God whose Son Jesus has taught me to give and love as you do. Holy are you who pours your mercy and grace out upon me like a fine oil, and who receives my every gift complete with its blessing, and in return this blesses me tenfold. Great are you Abba and your Son Jesus that by giving myself in reckless abandon to you I receive your blessings even a hundredfold in return Praised be your name Lord, and may all people share in the blessing of giving by saying Amen!
Amen.
“Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Mark 10:29-30
Rich Forbes