What An Extravagant Love!
I want to shout with a sweet voice Thank You! to my dear friends Wichie and Myriam.
- My friends traveled from Puerto Rico to Colorado Springs to give me an extreme/extravagant special care after a surgery to which I was subjected.
- They overflowed with love, sacrifice, service and resources. Their visit was anointed by the Lord.
- They cooked, decorated, baked, cleaned.
- They did everything with a joyful and humble heart, full of love and ready to serve.
I experienced the extravagant love of Jesus through them. This was something I did not deserve but our God was pleased to do it through His people. This taught me so much about how we experience Jesus. God’s extravagant love exceeds our imagination and comprehension. We receive this extravagant love of God through Jesus.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Sometimes it is difficult to feel that God actually loves us. We hear about it, read about it, also sing songs about it, but because of our life circumstances, we do not believe and receive it.
There are times when we are going through a difficult situation and ask ourselves, “How can He love me if my life is a mess?”
Those feelings often betray us. One of the ways to trust Him and believe that He loves us with an extravagant love is through His Word. Our feelings are not always truthful, but God’s Word is God’s TRUTH!
We have know the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke chapter 15. Jesus told the story of a man with two sons. The younger son asked for his inheritance and, after wasting his fortune, decided to return home with the intention of begging his father to make him one of the servants. He was expecting to be rejected by his father, but to his great surprise his father welcomed him back and prepared a big party to celebrate his return. The father showed the son an extravagant love.
Some of the definitions for extravagant are “exceeding what is reasonable or appropriate; absurd; expensive, costly, lavish, high priced, excessive.” The actions of the prodigal’s father exceeded what is reasonable or even absurd. The son had left, forgot his family, and spent all his inheritance, but then, decided to return home. And why did the father prepare the big event to celebrate his return? Because he loved his son with an extravagant love.
This is the same love Jesus has for us. He loves us with an extravagant love and forgives our transgressions. He wants us to be close to Him.
The extravagant love of God is meant to be shared. We can do good things for others from a heart of genuine generosity. My experience with my friends from Puerto Rico is a great example of how to share the extravagant love of Jesus with others. My life and my family were impacted by their care and love.
In Mark 12:30-31 Jesus told us to Love the Lord your God with all your heart… Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.
God’s love is truly extravagant. We are loved by Him and there is nothing that can change that!
I encourage you to relate to others – neighbors, those in the work place, wherever He may place you – with an extravagant love, so they, too, can experience Jesus.
