Looking for Love...

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 Those of us of a certain age will recall the country song, "Looking for Love" sung by Johnny Lee back around 1980--which seems like a lifetime ago now, although I was an adult when it came out. So, yeah--I guess I'm getting old. I've had that old song on my mind for some reason lately. Anyway--in it, he talks of looking for love in all the wrong places, playing a fool's game just hoping to win, telling lies & losing time and time again. Obnviously, he was looking for romantic love and apparently wasn't very successful. There's a spiritual parallel there. We waste valuable time in life trying to find fulfillment in what the world has to offer. There is a void within us that only God can fill, but we attempt to fill it with things that aren't made or meant to satisfy that great need we have. "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear." Isaiah 59:2 As for me--I tried to find fulfillment in the world. I sought to be popular and make myself known. I looked for fulfillment in romantic relationships. I thought a good job and being in a position of power would meet my needs. When that didn't work, I amassed possessions--which still left me empty. I tried drugs, alcohol and sex--but, they only caused more (and worse) problems in my life. Ironically, I had grown up in church and attended a Christian school. I knew God's Word. I just didn't want to heed it. In my mind, it seemed like a list of "Thou shalt nots" that would rob me of the freedom to enjoy life and all it had to offer. Still, life and poor choices robbed me of the same. "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled;And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun." Ecclesiastes 2:11 I knew what I needed to do, I simply did't want to. I ran from the calling God had on my life, made a myriad of bad choices and sent myself into a cycle of depression and despair. However, when I hit rock bottom and had the presence of mind to reach out to God, He was there, waiting for me just as He had been for all those years. I couldn't run or wrestle with Him any longer. He wasn't willing to renegotiate--I had to do it on His terms. I surrendered and accepted what I should have many years before and could have avoided much pain and heartache if I had. "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!" Psalm 139:7-8 He separated me from the old, called me out and made me new. He cleaned me up. He gave me purpose. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 1 Peter 2:9 Here's the truth of the matter--what He's done for me, He'll do for you. He offers us a free gift of salvation. Jesus gave His life and blood to make a way of reconcilliation for sinful man--and we are all sinners. All we have to do is receive the gift He offers. Like the father received back the prodigal son, God will willingly open His arms and heart to you. You've made mistakes. You've done terrible things. Maybe you're caught in addiction--to drugs, alcohol, porn, gambling, sex, codependency, etc. He already knows and He loves you anyway. The first step is siply calling out to Him. He is waiting for you, just as He waited all those years for me. Stop looking for love in all the wrong places--reach out to God and receive true, unconditional love like you have never known before. Become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) in Him. Let go of the baggage that the world has weighed you down with and fall into His overwhelming love an peace. There's also a line in the song that says, "You came a-knockin' at my heart's door. You're every thing I've been lookin' for." It reminds me of another Scripture, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." Revelation 3:20 What are you waiting for? You're looking for love and love has a name, His Name is Jesus--The One Who gave His life for you!