Wednesday, February 23
Pursue love.
—1 Corinthians 14:1
You know, maybe this whole courtship thing is part of the divine plan. Maybe our tendency to play hard-to-get is a God-given reminder of a spiritual truth in our everyday lives: We are to pursue love.
Love is such a critical part of our spiritual health that we are to actively seek it, no matter how elusive it seems. I don’t always do that. I much prefer to sit back and wait for love to come to me, but real love is an action verb, not a noun. It isn’t something I get unless it is something I have first given. Dear, loving friends don’t just show up on our doorsteps. Deep friendships are carefully sought, tended, and cultivated, as are all loving relationships.
It reminds me a bit of those who visit a church, sit in the very back, say nothing to anyone, and then exit with the chords of the last hymn only to go home and complain that the church was not friendly. We must actively participate in seeking love rather than waiting for others to come to us.
Of course in human relationships, that is not always successful. I remember a boy in high school who wanted to take me to the prom. I was already going with my steady boyfriend and refused, even when he tried to prove his sincerity by kneeling down in the middle of the road. That boy then took someone else, but selected a tuxedo to match the color of my dress. A fairly round young man in a yellow tuxedo was quite a sight.
The good news is that the pursuit of the divine Lover is always rewarded with joy unspeakable. “Seek and you will find,” says Jesus, and that is absolutely true. We will find, but only when we truly seek. I don’t think that’s meanness on God’s part. It is merely the way we acknowledge that the love we seek is worth the effort.
“Lord, like the lover for the beloved, we will pursue your love.” Amen.
These Signposts originally appeared on explorefaith in 2006.
