The Maths of Love.
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Anybody here good at Maths? I have to confess that it was one of my very least favourite subjects at school. I did just manage to scrape a GCSE.
I do however remember enjoying pushing a “trundle wheel” around in Infants School to measure the dimensions of the playground, classroom or school hall. “The playground is……….metres long and…….metres wide” we would record in our books. A welcome break from sitting at a desk!
Solid shapes can be measured in 3 dimensions. I do remember that much.
How amazing is it that when we talk of God’s love, we can speak in terms of 4 dimensions…it defies the ordinary laws of mathematics:
In Ephesians 3, Paul prays for power to “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
My heart for you today is that you too would be able to grasp and experience even a little of this amazing love today…this is the power that can change the world; that can change your world. Briefly consider its scale:
Wide… welcoming anyone and everyone, open arms on a cross. As David said on Sunday morning, there is no one excluded, although the way in is through a little door.
Long…Jesus’ love is an unbroken line from eternity past to eternity future…now that’s long!
Deep… How Deep is your Love? so sang the Bee Gees. Well, just read Philippians 2 to discover more of the depth of His love. Down He came, from highest heaven to earth, into a woman’s womb as a tiny speck, the One who placed the stars and formed mountain peaks, who lived in unbroken and wonderful relationship with His Father and the Holy Spirit, and then to death, on a cross, a shameful death…and all for me!
High… how high is his love? On our recent holiday, I lay out on a sunbed a few evenings after sunset and looked at the stars. Without the interference of artificial light they looked HUGE, and then beyond were more stars, and beyond that, clouds of galaxies, higher and higher. Is there any place out there in the vastness of the universe where his love is not higher still? NO!
And, believe it today, there is no height to which He cannot take you by his love…we are brought high to be his children, to be heirs with him, to sit “in heavenly places” with Him!
Well, I certainly wouldn’t be able to measure the love of Jesus Christ with my little primary school “trundle wheel”, but won’t you join me on what looks like being the best and most exciting venture so far…to explore and enjoy the amazing 4 dimensions of it all?!
Your friend,
Susan x