I Know You Do

Nature’s playing her little joke on me. Only hope of the possibility of snow gets me through the long months of February and March. And yet, it’s clear skies that result in colder temps. Low pressure systems bring in clouds, but warmer temperatures. So here I sit shivering in my little reading corner, squinting at sun and wishing for gray.

February prompts us to think of cruises, small tender plants squatting under the cold ground, and Valentine’s Day, the day dedicated to love. Growing into a loving relationship with someone, we wait nervously until one or the other of us says the words that promise commitment, a future together. “I love you.” We yearn to hear and to repeat them.

As the relationship grows, it often becomes more about proving that love. When we had been married for several years, on that special day my poor husband might as well have worn a battle helmet to work. He would need it walking in the door Valentine’s night. I was all but waiting at the door like the woman in the comic strip who would wait with arms crossed, rolling pin in one hand, for her husband to come in late.

My husband is a sweetheart. He didn’t come home late and certainly not on Valentine’s Day. And he never failed to bring me a card and flowers or candy. But for some sad reason, I felt he needed to prove his love to me by bringing me a wildly extravagant gift.

As we got older, we realized that there’s nothing as important as the love itself. We say “I love you” often and we mean it each time. It doesn’t just hold the promise of a committed future now. It also holds the hope, the memories of years together, and the peace of a firm foundation.

And we’ve learned something even more amazing. A greater gift than the response of “I love you, too” is the reply, “I know you do”. That one phrase says you respect me, you are good to me, and your eyes tell me how you feel.

To love God enough to want to please Him is a wonderful way to live. But even more rewarding is the deep and secure knowledge of how very much He loves us. When He says, “I love you”, we can say, “I know you do.”

I John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.