The Bacholorette

First of all, I have to get this out in the open... I watch the Bachelorette....I know, I know, you expect more from me.....What can I say, its one of my numerous guilty pleasures! I can't help it, people fascinate me; I just have to know how and why they make decisions, and how they follow through on their ideas and emotions. But one thing that never ceases to amaze me on this show is that no one ever refuses the rose when they are one of that week's chosen few. I just can't get over this fact... I was single once, er...for an unbearingly long time (or so I thought then.) I just don't remember life working out like that for me. Every guy I chose automatically chose me back? I don't think so. I mean, what are the odds? Since when are relationships so one-sided? You take a girl or guy (that can't find love on their own, I might add) and put them in a room full of 30 members of the opposite sex and every single one of them falls in love with the one. That's just crazy! I'm thinking every single girl in the country has auditioned for that show! But it got me thinking... about how one sided our understanding of relationships tend to be in this world.

I think, sometimes, we spend so much time worrying about the likelihood of the uncreated God loving such frail, insignificant, and messed up women as ourselves, and forget that there is another side to the coin. We assume that if this great love could somehow be true that we have no response other to love Him back. But there's a catch....we have this thing called CHOICE. I do think that if we could ever really wrap our minds around the love that Christ has for us then we would be more likely to choose him back, but what about those days when our plight in this world hazes the clarity of our understanding? What then? Do we still choose to love Him back? Even when it doesn't seem like He loves us at all, when we view our circumstances through our earthly eyes? You may be quick to answer "Yes! Of course!" but would a reality tv show centered around your life make that decision obvious to others? Sadly, I have to say that my spoken words don't always paint the picture of my love for Christ.

My desperate plea for us is that we move past trying to simply accept that God could possibly choose us and focus with all of our efforts on choosing Him back! So as cheesy as it may sound, Yes, Father! I will accept this rose! I will accept the redeeming work Your son did on the cross and I will accept the righteousness that comes with it! Not only do I accept your love, but I choose to love you back! I will love you with my time, my energy, my words, and my actions. Thank you for choosing me first, so that I have the opportunity to choose you back!

"We love because He first loved us." - 1 John 4:19

~Laura~