Prompt thought of the week:
Oftentimes we believe that we must “deserve” the love we receive. We work, work, work to get approval and to feel like our life is justified — pulling our own weight, thinking that whatever life we create and love we get is only what we ourselves can conjure up. But the scriptures today offer the image of God as our “keeper” — always helping, always present. Nicodemus has followed all the rules and done everything HE can do, and yet he is still looking for love — for tangible connection with God. Jesus says that he must be born “of the Spirit.” It’s not all up to simply “doing the right thing!” It is about allowing the Spirit to help birth love in our lives.
There is the old saying you cannot buy love and that is so true. You can love another but you cannot make them love you. Without a special connection between the two of you, you only have half of the equation. Unless you have both halves of the equation you have an unfulfilled relationship.
Often in life we work hard trying to earn love and attention to no avail. It doesn’t work unless the love of the other is also offered. What is that spark or “special sauce” so-to-speak that makes the relationship work? The Spirit? I honestly don’t know. What I do know is you know it when it happens. I am grateful for it when it does, be it a relationship with your God, another person, or with a beloved pet animal.
So, offer your love and see if you get a positive response.
Prayer: God let my love bloom and reflect the kind of love Jesus had for others.
Dorothy Northey