I’m a sucker for love stories.

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Every time I meet a married couple, I ask them how they met. How they fell in love. The things they’ve had to overcome (if they’re willing to share). How they kept on fighting through it all.

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In the middle of each story, there’s a special moment. A moment when the man loses his mind. He decides that he’d rather not live without the woman for another second. He goes and buys a ring, shiny big fat ring. He takes the woman to a special place and when he feels the time is right, he gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him. It’s called a proposal.

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A proposal leaves the man’s heart in the woman’s hands. At that moment, the man is at his most vulnerable. She can answer “yes.” Or she can answer “no.” But the man has done everything he can possibly do on his end. The rest is up to her.

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Now I’ve heard plenty of stories where this ends happily ever after. However, every now and then, things don’t go as planned.

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I remember watching a hockey game where a man decided to propose to his girlfriend, while being displayed on the Jumbotron. Oh and national TV. She didn’t say “yes.” She didn’t say “no.” She just shook her head and walked away. Leaving the man speechless as the cameras quickly turned back to the game.

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That’s when I realized love is risky. It’s beautiful, but risky. This is because there’s no guarantee that the other will love you back.

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Love is such a mystery to me.

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It is  the cause of life’s greatest joys as well as life’s greatest pains.

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It makes people do crazy things.

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It takes your time. It takes your money. It takes your energy. Yet you regret nothing.

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It makes impossible things easy. It makes years feel like minutes. It makes miles feel like steps.

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It makes you wish you had more to give, just so you could give it. And when you feel empty, it fills you up again.

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In the words of Paul McCartney in his classic Silly Love Songs,

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Love doesn’t come in a minute,

Sometimes it doesn’t come at all,

I only know that when I’m in it,

It isn’t silly at all.

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There’s something innate inside the heart of every person that knows it’s meant to be loved and to love. People cling to those who love them. Those who didn’t receive love growing up desperately look for it in other people and other things. Our hearts are designed to open up in response to love and close up in response to hate and rejection. Love is the greatest healing and restorative force in the entire world.

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In John 17, Jesus declares to God the Father that “you loved me before the foundation of the world.” This is interesting because it tells us that love was around before the world was created.

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Before the sun.

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Before the stars.

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Before the endless skies.

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Before the ground we walk on.

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Before people.

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Love was.

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This is because love isn’t something God created, it’s something God is. It’s in our nature because it’s in His nature. That’s why the absence of love seems unnatural to us. The Bible tells us that love is patient. This is because God is patient. The Bible tells us that love is kind. This is because God is kind.

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I used to think of love, much like God, as  a concept. An idea in the sky. Something mysterious and unattainable. An ideal to be looked at and appreciated it but never to be grasped.

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The gospel is that Love became flesh.

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The gospel is that Love has hands. Love has feet. Love has a body. Love has a voice. Love has a name. And it’s Jesus.

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And this Love, knowingly and willingly, came down from heaven and died on a cross.

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Oh the wonderful cross. The most romantic expression of love in all of history.

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I’ve often heard the Bible described as “the greatest love story ever told.” Let’s explore that for a second.

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The Bible tells the story about God’s pursuit of mankind. In Genesis, when man rejected God’s love, sin entered the world and mankind was cut off from God. Then started God’s relentless pursuit after His people. His bride.

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In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, we read about a glorious union between God and His church. The church, God’s people, are described as “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” What follows is eternal union and eternal love. Cue wedding bells.

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Somewhere in between, we find the cross. The proposal.

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The cross was Jesus getting down on one knee and asking all of humanity to be His forever. It was Him doing all that He could possibly do on His end. The rest is up to us. The cross was His way of saying “I love you.” The only thing left is a response.

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May you come to know that God is love.

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May you remember that the greatest love in history didn’t come with a ring, but with a cross.

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And may you say “yes.” May you say “no” to all others. May your love for Christ be the reason you live. May you go through struggles with God. And, in the end, may you live happily ever after.