Amazing Love

As I was driving home today, I began thinking about hymns. I am a young person (at least at heart), and I listen to a lot of contemporary music, but I will never really fall in love with a contemporary song, like I have with some of the old hymns. There is something ageless about some of these old songs, and the writers put so much heart and meaning into what they wrote. You certainly don't get that from hip-hop.

For example, the song, "My Jesus, I love thee" has a verse that goes like this:
"I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me, and purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree; I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow; if ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now."

Just think, if our young people, or even the rest of us, could really wrap our finite minds around such a thought. If we could really understand the kind of love that Jesus has for us, what would that do to our lives? You know, it wasn't the Jews that killed Jesus. It wasn't even the Romans. It was his immense, compassionate, fanatical love for us that made him voluntarily lay down his life!

Romans 5:8 tells us, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." And John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

If we could really, truly believe that, what a difference that would make! We could have no depression, no self-esteem issues. We would see ourselves for who we really are, how God sees us, as someone worthy of God's risking everything in a compassionate pursuit of our hearts. Now that is Amazing Love!