my wife & i are spending a couple of days with old friends in a resort town not far from where we live. these friends rented a condo for a few days & asked us to come up for a visit. we get to see them only two or three times a year, & i am struck by how quickly the health of both is deteriorating. this is a second marriage for both the husband & wife, & they've found great joy together after very miserable first marriages. the husband is in his mid-90s, twenty years older than the wife.
the point of my post is the devotion of the wife to her husband's care. she has sacrificed so much of herself to his well-being, giving up most of her pursuits outside their home. one can see the toll this is taking on her, yet she feels no resentment for having given up so much of herself for his sake. such a great love and sense of devotion is rare, and it is wonderful to behold.
in my morning quiet time, i thought of how this love we are observing is like the love God has for us. God is constant in caring for us, always present, always ready to meet our needs, always loving us. yet unlike the human devotion we see in our friends, God never tires, there is never any relenting in God's concern for us, there is never any sense that God would need a time away from caring for us. it is amazing that there is such a Being who is so filled with love for creatures who are often so lacking in love & devotion.
my prayer this morning is that we can be committed to caring for each other as our friend is in caring for her husband, recognizing that in order to find one's life one must lose it, & that we remember that our love for another is a reflection of the great love God has for each of us.
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