LOVE

LOVE

Have you ever missed celebrating your birthday for some reason and didn't care for it much, but sometime later somehow somebody remembered it and, together with a group of friends, threw a special birthday party at you, at the most unexpected time? Well, it happened to me, for the first time, last Sunday night. Couldn't be more surprising a birthday party, could it? To me, the fact that the birthday was not forgotten was a surprise. Given a birthday party at a highly unexpected time was, of course, a double surprise. What was my response? You cannot be more certain that I was fully surprised, such surprise that was filled with joy, such joy that was expressed in laughter, and such laughter that was accompanied with tears. I dare say it was one of the most blessed moments, among many others, that I had experienced in my life. The cake was delightful with cheerful candle flames, which shone onto the cheerful faces of those precious ones - a beautiful picture that I would not forget. That night, I felt so special and blessed.
Was it the birthday cake that made me feel special and blessed? Or the birthday party itself? Or even more so, my friends who made the party happen? I thought to myself. Well, these certainly were valid reasons, but I felt there ought to be something more, a deeper reason. What came to my mind was the word love. Yes, they love me. I totally didn't expect their organizing a birthday party for me, but I never doubted and therefore was not in the least surprised of their love for me. That night, I thought the cake was much sweeter than how others said it was, for I was really enjoying the sweetness of love from my dear friends.
As I dwell upon this love, I thought, how much more is the love of our Heavenly Father! I was reminded of, through a surprising birthday party, my friends' sweet love. How much more is God willing to do to remind us of His perfect, extravagant love, through some unexpected events in our life?
Do you expect one to lay one's life down for the sake of saving another's? I do not, although I believe it does happen, rarely, in this world. Now, do you expect anyone to die for the sake of saving all of our lives, the lives of the whole human race? I do not, and I do not believe anyone, any earthly creature, is able, or willing to do it. But God, alone, can, and He has done it as he willed. The Crucifiction of Jesus was, even to his followers, an unexpected event, the result of which - the bearing and cleansing of the human sin - is still more unexpected. However, His perfect love for us was, is, and is forever revealed through this very act. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
A convict was sentenced to death. Should he expect someone to come and take his place of condemnation? He shouldn't, and therefore you can imagine how surprised He would be when he was told that Someone, with His very life, had paid for his death. I cannot think of a reason why he would not want to know who this Someone was and why He had done such a thing to save the life of a sinner-deserving-death. Neither do I doubt that he shall find this Someone whom he was looking for, for He was raised from the dead and was alive since then. You can imagine the very day that he was set free from the Prison, how tears of joyfulness flowed out of his eyes, how songs of thanksgiving burst out of his mouth, and how he, by faith, commited all the rest of his life to embrace that Someone!

You see, I was once that convict, and that Someone who saved my soul was, is, and will always be - Jesus .
God's love - a surprise then, to me, is now a conviction.