Mr Lucado gives us a beautiful and heart wrenching story in this chapter 7 called “God’s Great Love.” In the year 1878, the English Princess Alice had a young son who became ill with black diphtheria, and was repeatedly warned to stay away from him, least she become infected also. She did her best to comply but, “One day she overheard him whisper to the nurse, ‘Why doesn’t my mother kiss me anymore?’ The words melted her heart, she ran to her son and smothered him with kisses. Within a few days, she was buried.” (p72) That is a divine picture of love, is it not? Yet God did an even greater thing. The Righteous died for the unrighteous. The Sinless for the sinful. The Perfect One for the imperfect ones. My Friends, doubt no more, God loves you! He is not waiting for the infection of sin to be cured before he smothers us with His Kindness. He is not biding His time until we get our act together. He is not holding out until we love Him first. God loves you! Right here, right now. As a matter of fact, we could not love Him unless He loved us first. (1Jn 4:19) Again, I say: God loves you!
So if it’s not about me, how does that show God loves us? Because a Good and Loving Father would never overburden His child! Mr Lucado gives a wonderful example of this as he shares another story about his earthly father. He explains how his dad was an oil-field mechanic who loved, and was excellent, at fixing cars. Unlike his dad though, Mr Lucado was certainly not skilled in this area. So he says, “My ignorance left my dad in a precarious position. What does a skilled mechanic do with a son who is anything but? As you begin formulating an answer, may I ask this question: What does God do with us? Under his care the universe runs like a Rolex. But his children? Most of us have trouble balancing a checkbook. So what does he do?” (p74) Then he continues with what his dad did. Even though the young Max Lucado had no idea how to work on cars, his dad let him help out anyway. He gave him tasks that he knew his son could handle. Listen: “He gave me jobs to do – holding wrenches, scrubbing spark plugs. And he knew my limits. Never once did he say, ‘Max, tear apart that transmission, will you? One of the gears is broken.’ Never said it. For one thing, he likes his transmission. For another, he loved me. He loved me too much to give me too much.” (p74) Do we see it? God loves us way too much to make life all about you or me. Let’s wrap up this section of the book tomorrow…
2023’s Got A Minute? Book Club
January: The First & Best Book Ever: The Bible
February: Love Is In the Air: “The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts” by Gary Chapman
March: Spring Growth: “Secrets of the Vine” by Bruce Wilkinson
April: Living the Resurrected Life: “The Wonderful Spirit Filled Life” by Dr Charles Stanley
May: My Spiritual Mom: “Making Good Habits Breaking Bad Habits” by Joyce Meyer
June: Spiritual Dad: “It’s Not About Me- Rescue from the Life We Thought Would Make Us Happy” by Max Lucado
<>< Peace, Diane
