I still remember the nervousness of my first school valentine. First grade, a clear crisp day in Sacramento California found my hair combed and slicked upped. I wanted to be my best! I just knew that she had weighed me in the scales and that there was something that I was lacking. I could not play kick-ball as well as some of the guys in the class. I was good at riding the merry-go-round however did I push it at the right speed when she was on? She could hang upside down for ages on the top of the climbing bars while I failed and fell on my head every time I made an attempt!
The big moment came during the first recess. A Valentine card had been carefully crafted and hidden a few days before. We had taken on the visible task in class, but everyone knew that is not where you made the special one for the real valentine! Maybe she had given her heart for another. What would or could I do then?
The day came and went. I remember the nervousness still and do not recall it ever leaving when it came to my relationships at that time. If it was not one thing it was another; you always knew that you were not quite measuring up to someone else's standard.
“As silver in a crucible and gold in a pan, so our lives are assayed by God.” (Proverbs 17.3)
The harsh, blunt, and clear reality is that God knows us better than we know or understand our self. God sees every weakness, failure, and attempt at becoming a god. With full knowledge of the act and with the witness of the universe, God extends to you and me a Valentine.
“Will you be my friend?”
I do not think God is nervous like I was in first grade. I do believe the emotions are there; powerful and awesome desire, profound sadness at the prospect of rejection, and pent up anticipation of celebrating our “yes”.
The arms are extended. Our response is?
