The month of February is known for Valentine’s Day, the day of romance and love. My heart just beats faster thinking about it! Even now, I see pink and red hearts, chocolates, flowers and candy with special messages, expressing terms of endearment. When I was young girl, (btw- I still am young!)I imagined what it would be like to be in love. I imagined having a young man buy me flowers, candy and dote over me with affection. It is every girls dream to be cherished as a beautiful treasure.
Romance will always be part of society. Everywhere you turn there are advertisements for love. There are tons of on-line dating services, or match making organizations because everyone is looking for that perfect person to make their lives complete. People have the desire to share their lives with someone special. It is only human nature to want to be accepted and loved.
I am blessed with that special someone, my husband, Craig. He is the man of my dreams. He dotes on me daily. He treats me with respect and love. I always feel special in his presence. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t tell me how beautiful he thinks I am. I thank God everyday for my husband! Believe me, he is and will always be my valentine. Craig , is an example of God’s love to me and how He desires to romance me.
However, this year as I began to think of Valentine’s Day and the way the heart is expressed in love and emotions or just simply by physical hearts being symbolized on cards, candies, stuffed animals, etc. The Lord spoke to me about the hearts of His people and what He desires every day, not just Valentine’s Day.
You see God is after our hearts. It’s Valentine’s Day to Him every day. He thinks of us often and tries to allure us to Him though His Word, His people and His example of perfect love through His Son, Jesus Christ. He romances us and attempts to have a love affair with us daily, if we allow Him to. However, we fail to miss the attempts of His affection towards us because we are too busy, distracted or simply we don’t choose to acknowledge Him for whatever reason. I can’t imagine how He must feel when He simply just wants to tell me, He loves me. I can see Him now with this beautiful Valentines, Day card wanting to give it to me. He worked on it all day long and poured His heart into it, saying just the things I need to hear, but yet, I rejected Him.
The other heart issue I was thinking about was the circumcision of the heart. Yikes, such a big religious term, isn’t it? Basically, in Old Testament times in the bible, there was physical circumcision that was performed, a ritual cutting away of the foreskin on a male’s genitals, which signified that a man was a Jew. It was suppose to demonstrate that a man had committed himself to obey God. It was a physical sign of His love and obedience to serve Him.
So, that is where we come up with the term, circumcision of the heart. Romans 2:29 states, “ But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but of God.” There needs to be a cutting away of old things in ourselves that bring us closer to God. Some examples of this might be old habitual sin, thoughts, emotions or behaviors that keep us from being intimate with the Lord. Again, God is after our hearts. He requires that we be set apart to Him in our hearts and minds. This is true intimacy with the Lord, when we are willing to give up our hearts, the core of who we are to the God!
Although, it is Valentine’s Day soon, we need to always be asking God to circumcise our hearts by the spirit. What does that mean for us in our personal lives? What is one practical way we can act on this inner circumcision that would show God just how much we love Him? After all, we can’t truly love others this Valentine’s Day until we go through the One, who first loved us!
Be Romanced today!
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