Today is for many a "Hallmark holiday"...referring to the greeting card company as the inventor of this holiday that drives many to purchase their products for the purpose of expressing love.  But there is a greater love story available to us...not just today, but everyday.  So as you work to surprise those you love today, remember that YOU are loved by God in a way that no hallmark card can express...His lavish love awaits you and is yours for the asking...it is impossible to escape...read on and oh, by the way Happy Day of LOVE!!! to you and yours!!

Do you know God's lavish love?

But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.      Exodus 20:6 NLT

A love impossible to escape

The Israelites had just escaped from slavery in Egypt when God gave them the Ten Commandments. He promised to "lavish" his love on them, if they would obey these laws. Exodus 20:6 is an astounding promise of God's love and faithfulness to his people.
It is all too easy for us to feel separated from God, all alone, and unloved, but Romans 8:35-39 assures us that is it impossible to escape God's love, even if we don't feel his love.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death. [Even the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep."] No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The picture is clear. God's love never fails, and you can experience it now. Rest secure in the knowledge that nothing can separate you from God's love.
adapted from Living Water for Those Who Thirst Tyndale House Publishers (2000), pp 131-2

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House