If I don't have love, I am nothing.

Love

[luhv]

-noun

1 - a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

2 - a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or Friend

...

4 - a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart

...

9 - affectionate concern for the well-being of others

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12 - the benevolent affection of God for His creation, or the reverent affection due from them to God...

So, Valentines day. A day for husbands to be uxorious, for wives to love and be lavished, for boyfriends to buy their girlfriends flowers and teddy bears, and children to eat gross little hearts that say the sweetest little things on them....right? If that's what you think of when you hear "Valentine's Day" then you have a very shadowed, very dumbed down, very commercialized idea of what this 'holiday' is really about, and how it got here, what it stands for.

"You mean, you don't think of these things when you hear 'Valentines Day'?"

Well...no. Not really.

Naturally one can't help but have images of rock hard conversation hearts and roses pop into their minds, but I don't think about these things because that's not how the story goes.

It all started with St. Valentine. If you don't know who he is I suggest you go to my friends blog, she just did a wonderful post giving Valentine's life story:http://mynameisnotking.blogspot.com/2011/02/hi-im-isabella-and-im-holiday-killjoy.html.

Long story short, St. Valentine was a bishop in 207 AD who believed that marriage was created by God, he lived in a Rome ruled by the emperor Claudius, who banned marriage due to his troops missing their families.

But Valentine, in secret, was performing marriages. The bishop was found out and Claudius had him jailed and eventually executed, but not before befriending the jailer's blind daughter who was miraculously healed and converted. With her sight she was able to read his good-bye note to her, signed "From your Valentine". (Here's where you have an ah-HA! moment)

This man died because he would not deny his God, the man died for love.

When I think of Valentine's day, I think of this; I think of why we love. We love, I love, because God first loved us. If you don't believe me, go read the bible. I do not say this in a "Jesus loves me, this I know..." Sunday school sort of way, although that is kinda what it is... it is no less as real as what I know.

Between Genesis and Revelation lies a passionate story of love, betrayal, lies, absolution, teaching, learning, death, and resurrection. And no, this story is not G rated.

We were created. That how it starts out, we were created to walk with God. We Disobeyed Him, and were punished, but the love never went away. Years and years go by. Generation after generation sees the same thing: We love, we run away, we are wooed back. Love. Run. Wooed.

Repeatedly we were distracted by some idol that became a god to us, and our God would become jealous. The idol would be destroyed, we'd repent for our idol-affair, and be reminded of the great love we ran away from.

Many times we are compared to whores...how does that make you feel? At one point God had his prophet Hosea marry a prostitute, to represent to us the church's marriage to God.

"Find a whore and marry her. Make this woman the mother of your children.

And here's why: This whole country has become a whorehouse, unfaithful to me, God."

Hosea 1:2

"And now, here's what I'm going to do:

I'm going to start all over again.

I'm taking her back out into the wilderness

where we had our first date, and I'll court her.

I'll give her bouquets of roses.

I'll turn 'heart brake valley' into 'acres of hope'.

She'll respond like she did as a young girl,

those days when she was fresh out of Egypt."

"At that time" - this is God's message still -

"You'll address me, 'Dear husband!'

never again will you address me, "My slave-master!'

I'll wash your mouth out with soap, get rid of all the dirty false-god names,

not so much as a whisper of those names again...

And then I'll marry you for good - Forever!

I'll marry you true and proper, in love and tenderness.

Yes, I'll marry you and neither leave you nor let you go.

You'll know me, God, for who I really am.

On that very same day, I'll answer -

I'll answer the sky, sky will answer earth,

Earth will answer grain and wine and olive oil,

and they'll all answer *Jezreel.

I'll plant her in the good earth.

I'll have mercy on '*No-Mercy'.

I'll say to '*Nobody', 'You are my dear Somebody,'

and he'll say 'You're my God!' "

Hosea 2:14-23

*Jezreel, No-Mercy, and Nobody were the names of the three children that Hosea's wife had...

Verses are taken from the contemporary translation: The Message.

If you want to understand this better, I suggest you read Hosea yourself. I also suggest that you start in Genesis...then read 1&2 Samuel, and Judges, and Psalms, and Proverbs, and Song of Solomon....and Luke, and John, and Hebrews, and Revelation.

You may not like what I just said, and it probably isn't what you think of this 'holiday' at all.

But that's ok. When Valentine's come to mind, I think of the love my God has for me, and the great and painful lengths he went through to show me his love, and how much more so he wants mine in return.

And to me, it is a beautiful thing.

*******

...of course, getting flowers and candy and hugs and kisses aren't such bad things either ;)...