Love Refined

The most precious love and the most costly is the love that is tested and found true. Words swelling with affection are no match for devotion proved by sacrifice. Jesus’ love for me was not kept secret; it did not remain only lofty words. He demonstrated it. What was within the heart of God was wrenched open and laid upon the line at the Cross.  As the furnace refines the silver and gold, the severity of the testing He endured brought forth the fierce streaming light of His love so pure and potent.

All this to say, there may come a moment in time—even in the life of this American girl—that my love for Him will have opportunity to come under testing and be proven. Before the day I see His face, before the transition from faith to sight, I may be given such a gift. And you might also.Had Job died before his testing, he would have died a righteous man. Rich in possessions and ease of circumstance, yet righteous nonetheless. But the testing he endured robbed him of all things, leaving nothing remaining save a burning righteousness that was thereafter marked with the irrevocable scars of provenness.

Though I would not dare venture to say that I desire such testing to come my way, something within my heart looks at such a possibility with a trembling reception. Why? One reason. When I look just beyond this short life, toward that very real day when I will meet the eyes of the Lamb slain for love, something within me longs for the rewarding honor and fellowship of love not just spoken but proven. I long for love not just offered amidst the ease of American surplus but out of the grip of Christian sacrifice.

I do not determine my days nor know what the Lord has in store for this life. Yet if He would see fit to put before me such an occasion or season, (and I believe this opportunity will arise before a whole generation) may I count it a privilege to have my love for Him laid bare, tried and refined as the gold. May I consider it pure joy in whatever I face or endure, that on the Day I see Him, my many sincere words will be crowned with a love tested and found true.