Sunday, March 07, 2004

EXCUSE ME, I LOVE YOU!

my pastor was talking about Outrageous Love today and he shared an illustration from his own life. almost a year ago, his four-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer and every day since then, my pastor has made it a priority to tell his son that Daddy loves him - at least three times a day. "lately, however, [my son] seems to be outdoing me," he explained. "about twenty times a day, he'll look at me and say 'excuse me! excuse me daddy, i love you!' right in the middle of whatever we're doing. and i, in turn, will look at him and tell him 'i love you, too.' it doesn't matter where we are, at home, in the hospital, at a restaurant, in the washroom, he'll say it." my pastor continued to tell us that it feels like he's squeezing in a lifetime of love into whatever time they have left. and in the same way, Jesus, while He was on the cross, was squeezing in a lifetime of love into those few final hours.

i think that just like my pastor's son, Jesus was (and still is) also saying to us, "excuse me, i love you!" and really, we wouldn't be worse for the wear either if we made a practice of saying it to those who are dear to us.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
~Hebrews 10:24~

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