God's Love

September 22, 2022

From Pastor Joe Wamack

A concerned wife took her very sick man to the doctor for examination. The doctor examined the man and ran tests. He poked and prodded, and made the man say “ahh”. When the doctor went to talk to the wife, after looking at the test results, he had a concerned look on his face.

“Doctor will my husband be okay?” she anxiously inquired.

“I’m afraid your husband is very ill,” the doctor replied. “He has a rare disease that, left untreated, will most certainly kill him. But there is a treatment.”

“Yes Doctor, tell me what it is. I can’t imagine losing my husband. I’ll do anything, anything!”

“Well, with rest and proper nutrition, the disease will go into remission and your husband should live for many more years. Here’s what you need to do: Take him home and treat him like a king. Fix him three fresh meals a day and wait on him hand and foot. Don’t let him do anything that you can do for him. If he needs something, you take care of it. Give him a back rub in the morning and foot massage at night. He cannot eat anything with additives so you must learn to grow your own fruits and veggies. And because his immune system is weak, you’ll need to always keep your home spotless.”

“Do you want to tell your husband or shall I?” asked the doctor.

“I will,” the wife replied. She walked to where her husband was anxiously waiting. The husband, sensing something was wrong, said, “It’s bad, isn’t it? What have I got?”

His wife answered with a tear in her eye, “The doctor said there is no cure and you’re going to die.”

Kind of a funny but sad story. When she heard the cure for her husband was to serve him totally and completely sacrificially, she was unable to do it. Not unable to do it but unwilling to do it. If you think about it, who would really want to do all of those things for someone else? What a way to go. Who would want to take on that burden?

There are only three reasons why someone would do those kinds of things. (1) If they were forced to do it, like as a slave or if their life was threatened, (2) if they were paid and this is their chosen line of work or (3) love.

The only reason why someone would do those kind of consuming, hard, repetitive chores for someone else, without any pay or outside pressure is love-giving, selfless love-the Bible calls it “agape love”. A heart full of love cannot but reach out to those it loves and serve them. A heart that loves wants what is best for the other, not itself. In fact, most of the people who are in helping professions such as nursing or teaching and are paid, do it out of love as well. The only true, pure reason to serve one another is love.

The Bible says, “God so LOVED the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting Life.” (John 3:16). That’s agape love. That’s a heart that cares. That love can be yours today. It was made for you and me. You can have it and share it with others. Don’t worry-there is enough for everyone.