I remember doing something very special for my mother on Mother’s Day back when I was about 8 or 10 years old. We lived in the city so we did not have a lot of room for a flower garden, but my mother loved flowers. My Father decided we would take the little patch of dirt that we had in front of the house and make a flower garden for Mother’s Day. All I remember is how fun it was! We pulled out everything that was there already…. bushes, weeds, etc. and made a raised bed with railroad timbers.
We put in a trellis type fence for roses to grow on, and then we planted all kinds of flowers. We made sure to plant a rose bush or two because my Mom loved roses. This really is a great memory for me! Funny thing is, I don’t remember how hard it was to do all that work! I just remember how fun it was to show our love to our Mother in that way. It didn’t seem like work at all!
You know the Bible tells us about a lot of things that love is (1 Corinthians 13). But one thing it isn’t is work. How many of us have done absolutely crazy things for love but when we look back on them we don’t think about how hard it was or what it cost us? We think about seeing the person’s face and smile when we think about the sweet time we had with them.
God says His yoke is easy and His burden is light….. How can He say that? When we love someone, we don’t focus on the work and we can do great feats without even batting an eye. Why? Because we love them….. Don’t you have a memory of something you did that actually involved everything you had and was labor intensive, but when you look back on it all you think about is the joy and pleasure because you love that person?
You know….. I wonder when we get to thank Jesus face to face someday if He will say, “It was nothing.” Was it nothing? Um, no…… sleepless nights in prayer, endless teaching and healing, fasting 40 days and nights, the agony in Gethsemane….. It was pain and suffering alright, but “God so loved the world”. Maybe He has a smile on His face and all He thinks about is the good memory that He died so that all can live…..
As I sip the last drops of coffee from my cup and contemplate everything I must do today, I will linger on this thought…. Love isn’t work.