Love Is The Point, Not Survival - And We Know it.

Have a look at this 1min video.

There’s an idea, common in our day, that life is about the survival of the fittest: living as long as possible and making the most of every opportunity which comes our way.

We are told to eat healthily so that we can live longer and make the most of life. We are told to avoid risky behaviours like smoking and excessive drinking so that we can live longer and make the most of life. In school, we are told to work hard and get the best qualifications we can so that we have the best chance of living our dreams at some point in the future and thus make the most of life.

Of course, all those things are right. I don’t smoke or drink excessively. I try to eat properly, (not so good at that one) and whilst I’m not sure I could say with total honesty that being a teacher at my school is “Living the dream”, I do feel very at home there and I wouldn’t want to work at any other school in the Reading area.

But is that it? Is life just about making the most of what you get? Is it just about figuring out your level of optimal adaptation to your surrounding environment?

In the video you just saw, no one was chewing on a muesli bar. No one was doing a risk assessment to ensure the hug they received from the arriving relative was disease free and not going to deliver them a accidental black eye as arms were passionately flung around bodies. None of the kids had their books out revising, telling mum or dad that they would have to wait for their hug until they had finished preparing for their next test, but if you’re like me something in your heart naturally and almost inexplicably warmed as you watched it.”

There’s a very good reason for this. Life is not about survival, it’s about love. Love that is strong, faithful and secure. Love that doesn’t look out for itself, but looks out for others. Love that nourishes the soul. Love that brings forth life.

Orphans and children in care, in this country at any rate, all have plenty of good food, shelter, safety and opportunities to learn and acquire new skills, but if you were ask them, I bet you they would give everything to be with their united in love and peace with their natural families, even if it meant only having beans on toast every night.

We long for this kind of intimate-belonging love, both to give it and receive it. This desire for love is the echo of a greater love. A love not found in arms stretched out at Heathrow airport, but in the love of the God-Man Jesus who stretched out his arms 2000 years ago on a cross and whose loving death opens up the way for you and me to be welcomed home to God. The question is: will you come home?

Life is not about survival, it’s about love. Will you come home?