As a Christian, I sometimes wonder if we should get sucked into Valentine’s Day and the commercialism that comes with it?
It’s not like Christmas (only 319 to go in case you were wondering!) where we are celebrating the birth of Christ.
Valentine’s Day was a pagan festival which started in 496 in Rome to kick off their springtime. Boys would draw a girl’s name from a hat and spend the festival with the girl they picked, and then if they were lucky enough, they would get married!
So, jump forward a few thousand years and we have all been sucked into this pagan festival. We are encouraged to spend hundreds on the one we love, showering them with gifts and flowers in an attempt to show them how much we love them? But why only do that one day of the year? Shouldn’t we be doing that every day? Not the flowers and gifts but declaring our love and devotion to the one God placed us with?
But why only do that one day of the year? Shouldn’t we be doing that every day?
Or what if you don’t have a significant other? Is it just a day to be reminded that everyone else is in love but you’re not? Is it just to rub salt in the wound? Maybe we should start drawing names out of a hat again for those that are single?
Now please don’t get me wrong! If you and your loved one want to celebrate, then go and celebrate, and celebrate well! If your husband wants to take you out for dinner or buy you McDonalds, then by all means, let him! I for one, would not be turning down that offer!
But surely as Christians our focus for Valentine’s Day should be on our first love, our true love, the man who died on the cross for us so we could live this beautiful life.
Should our attention not be drawn to Jesus on this day that is celebrated for love. Was his dying on the Cross, not the greatest show of love for us that we have ever seen or could ever imagine?
Should our attention not be drawn to Jesus on this day that is celebrated for love.
There are not enough flowers on the planet or big macs in the world that show me greater love than Jesus dying on the cross for my sins.
He was and is my first true love, and that for me is worth celebrating.
remember your first love
And so, as we acknowledge Valentine’s Day, whether you celebrate it or not, it is my prayer that you would take time to remember your first love. That you would stop and pause long enough to say thank you for all He has done for you. That you would shower Him with your love and affection, because on this day, and every other, He is worthy of our praise!