Adoration

It's the day after Valentine's Day, but I'm still celebrating!

In fact, I meant to write this last night, but unexpectedly I received the opportunity to attend a concert I wouldn't pass up the chance to go to, and so here I am, a day late. Though, I believe, it's for the better that I celebrate it late, because it's given me the opportunity to celebrate one of the greatest women in my life: my younger sister.

See, at the concert last night, a band called for KING & COUNTRY played. Every concert they perform at, they sell necklaces with a one-cent piece from Australia hung on them; a reminder for young ladies that they are priceless, and a reminder for young men that women are to be treated with respect and honor.

As an older brother, I seek to model how a young man should treat her; but also be fun and enjoyable at the same time! I'll let her be the judge of how well I do, but it's a difficult task set before me. Being a man can be difficult when I just want to be goofy and sarcastic all the time; but I know that as I see her grow, I want to be the older brother she deserves. 

She teaches me much more about how to be a man than she realizes, I think. I learn every day, and I do my best to be intentional to learn as much as I can from her before I'm thrown into college. 

As I wrote her a letter this morning, reminding her of her beauty and value, I thought of my future wife. I have absolutely no idea who she is, or when God might reveal her to me. I wish I had some way to tell her that I already think she's beautiful, and that I already love her. I pray for her every day, and I think of the ways I might be able to make her smile.

For now, I'll be patient. So many times I have been asked by my peers why I don't date; they tell me I'd be a great boyfriend. I've even asked myself that question. I'm glad that God has reminded me of who I am and that He has better plans for me than anything I could see at the moment.

The reason in my patience lies in that I want to give as much of myself to my wife that hasn't been shared with anyone else. I take guarding my heart seriously, because I know how much trouble hearts can be. To see her smile, for her to know that I've kept myself from others just for her, it fills me with hope. Hope that I might one day be able to finally call her my own.

My patience has another cause, though. I know that I am far from the man I want to be. I heard once that marriage chips off all the rough edges of our character, and so with the tools I have, as a single, I want to chop off as many of those rough edges as I can first. That way it'll be less painful for us both when I reach marriage. 

But ultimately, this Valentine's Day isn't about my sister, or about my future wife. It's about Jesus Christ.

Recently, the word "adoration" has been on my heart. I haven't felt the same passion that I usually do for Christ lately; while I pursue Him every day because I love Him and choose Him (love is a choice, not a feeling), I know I only do it because if I don't pursue my first love, I might lose myself. I would pray every day that I would love Jesus more; that I'd love Him so much that I'd have that feeling again. 

Recently, though, calling it love seemed silly. It's such an overused word. I want to love Jesus more, yes, but I realized I was missing the point. Loving Christ isn't about the way He makes me feel or what He can do for me; although those are great things about His character. Loving Christ – and by extension, the Father – is about choosing Him over anything else because of what He's ALREADY done.

Jesus hung on a cross for six hours, voided from the One that loved Him most, because of my detestable, sinful state. To save me from my death, Jesus had to die. In His great love for us, He opened the door for our comparatively small love for Him; all just to have a relationship with His creation whom He loved deeply.

This is where adoration takes hold. When I think of 'regular' love (if there is such a thing!), I think of two people in a relationship, with mutual, conditional, companionate love. Jesus doesn't love like that. He gives so much more than we could ever give back; He gives unconditionally; and His love is much more than a friendship. It's a love that goes deeper than that of a brother; closer than family. It's incredible, it's wild, and it's what I desire.

When I consider all the ways my Jesus loves me, well, it makes me think of my response, and how it should be so much more than what the word "love" now conveys. Instead, I should be humbled by His great love, and my love should almost be vertical; with myself recognizing my depravity and the INCREDIBLE privelage it is to call Him my Savior!

The idea of adoration rings so clearly in my mind. Loving Christ for all the He has ALREADY done, and lifting Him higher as I give Him the glory! Which is exactly what Christ did. In this way, Paul calls us #LiveItLikeJesus.

"Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men." - Philppians 2:5-7a (HCSB)