This Week's Focus

Investigate my life, O God
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I'm about;
See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Psalm 139:23-24



Monday, May 3, 2010

Day 8: "Love is a verb"




verb (vûrb)
n.
1. Abbr. V or vb.
a. The part of speech that expresses existence, action, or occurrence


Nowhere in this psalm does God say outright, "I love you."

I am a word person. I LOVE words, love to study them, love to understand their meaning and try to choose just the perfect one, love how they can be used to paint pictures and convey feelings. And, words are my love language -- when someone tells me something good or encouraging or affirming, I feel loved.

So how is it after being with this Psalm now for 8 days I feel God's love eventhough those specific words aren't there?

Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth...

My friend Jennifer created a necklace that simply says, "Love is a verb." I have admired it for a long time, and bought one from her recently so I've been thinking about it a lot.

As another way to drink it into my heart, I began collecting Psalm 139 songs (posted some in the sidebar). In Rebecca St. James' song version of Psalm 139, she does sing, "eventhough you know [everything about me], you will always love me." It hit me today that she is saying directly what the Psalm does not. Psalm 139 describes all the ways in which love is a verb. I realized the Psalm doesn't have to say literally that God loves me because it is inherent in his actions.

(Jennifer sells the necklace pictured above in her Etsy store when she's not all out. Go to her blog to find out more http://www.apoemlife.blogspot.com)