A night at the ball field

Ahh, Young Love!

Whoever first thought a silly groundhog could predict the weather must have been smoking peyote with their friendly local native Americans. It was pretty last night, but it was COLD! 

I enjoy watching middle school and high school baseball. The boys give it their all and learn about life while playing. Not that I don't enjoy watching the girls play softball too, but I watch softball for a different reason. And that is a story for another day.

Back to baseball. Last night, sitting in the bleachers all bundled up, listening to kids run and play and watching teenagers talk to their friends and flirt I was reminded of how we learn about love. Now stay with me on this one, I promise it will make sense in a minute. 

Our first concept of love comes from our parents. If we are fortunate we have have parents who love us unconditionally and show us their love when we are both good and bad. For those who are unfortunate, we learn how much we want/need love and we decide how/what we will do to pursue it and recieve it. 

Nothing about the way we view love really changes until we hit puberty and all of the sudden we decide that becuase we think about this certain guy (or girl) all the time we must be "in love" with them. And in some very real ways that is true. 

Doesn't the Bible say that what we set our focus on is what we desire with our heart? So if we are thinking about that certain someone all through out the day, we must feel something for them, right?

Then the expression of love comes into play. Looks, smiles, kind words, simple touches.....all of these things bring us closer to that other person. 

Watching teenagers paw at each other at the ball field last night I flipped it right back to falling in love with Christ. Just think about it. When we are introduced to him our initial understanding is denial. No way could he really have exhisted. No way did he really die for me. I've done some really bad things, said some really bad things, hurt some people who didn't deserve it....you get what I'm saying? That denial then starts to lessen as we learn more about who Jesus hung out with. Murderers, harlots, thieves, politicians, not what we would classify as "good people". But he loved them, and he died for them too. So if he could love them and die for them, why can't I believe he died for me too?

That is when the young love we feel for Jesus turns into the teenage love that we see displayed at ball parks across the US. We paw at God's word hoping for kind words and love and affection back. We study with friends and worship with friends because of how HE makes us feel while we are doing it. (Sound familiar?) Then all of the sudden something goes wrong and we get angry with God that this happend. Our first fight. We either forgive and accept that our ways and our concepts of what God should and should not do are not His ways, or we break up with Him and turn away from His love. 

Any of this ringing a bell yet? I looked at those young people in love and I remembered the excitement of the first time a guy held my hand, or my first kiss, my first slow dance. It was like recognizing the electricity in my body. And that same AWE inspiring feeling is how we feel when we are saved and On Fire for God. So what happens to that feeling? Why do we lose it? 

I think it is just like with any long term relationship, friendship, boyfirend/girlfirend, marriage. We get comfortable. We grow complacent. We let the fire die down to embers and keep it safe and warm. 

I don't know about you all, but I miss the on fire part. I miss the electricity of that look across the room, or the caress of hand against hand. I want that back in my walk with Christ. I want to be On Fire for Him. Not becuase of how it makes me feel, but becuase of WHO it makes me for HIM. The look from Him is recognizaeble in other people's faces when they see grace or kindness they feel they do not deserve. The caress of love comes from someone who gives to me, when I feel undesrving or weak. All of these things are there, right there with us everyday. We just have to open ourselves up and see them, hear them, touch them, smell them, taste them. Jesus, my savior, my redeemer, my best friend, the lover of my soul, is with me right now in each stroke of these keys loving me and carrying me and holding me like the precious and wonderful thing He sees me for. How can I NOT be on fire for that?

Ahh, young love.... His love is timeless and Never Fails.