Happy Valentine's Day

What a perfect day to obey God’s commandment to “love one another !”
Valentine’s Day – a day when all around the world people are thinking about LOVE ! Would the world not be a better place if it were Valentine’s Day every day of the year ?
But as Christians serving the God of Love – every day IS a day to celebrate love - His love for us and our love for Him and one another.

I did a bit of research involving the origin of St. Valentine’s Day and while there are some legends and contradictions surrounding the day I found the following to be fairly reliable information.
St. Valentine died in 270 AD, his birth date is not known .
He lived in Rome under the rule of the emperor Claudius II, who was also known as Claudius the Cruel. Involved in many bloody and unpopular crusades, Claudius had difficulty in recruiting enough men to join his armies. Deciding it was because men did not want to leave their wives and children, he simply outlawed marriage .
St. Valentine, a devote Christian , felt the injustice of the decree and dared to continue marrying people, performing the ceremonies in secret. He also aided the Christian martyrs who suffered under Claudius’ rule.
His kind deeds attracted the attention of Claudius the Cruel who had him arrested, tortured and because he refused to deny his faith sentenced him to death.
In prison, Valentine befriended and fell in love with the jailor’s daughter and on the eve of his execution he wrote her a note signed , ‘from your Valentine’.
He was executed on February the 14th.
In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno who was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage.
The Christian pastors in Rome tried to do away with this pagan custom and in 496 AD , February 14th was set aside to honor St. Valentine.
Valentine cards were commercialized in the 1800’s and sending cards on Feb. 14th has become a well established tradition along with chocolate , flowers and gifts.

On the subject of love from the Book of Books………

The very first time ‘love’ is mentioned in the Bible is in the love story of Jacob and Rachael. Jacob , having fallen in love with his boss’s daughter, Rachael, asked her father to give her to him as his wife. He served Laban for 7 years for her hand in marriage, then when Laban tricked him into marrying Leah, had to work another seven for Rachael. But the scripture says that these seven years “seemed unto him but a few days, for the love that he had for her.” ( Gen. 29:20)
Would Rachael not have loved that declaration in a Valentine’s card?

There is an example of extraordinary love in Ex. 21:5. When a man was sold into slavery to a Hebrew, the law was that after six years he had to be given his freedom. If he entered his service as a single man , he went out single , which meant that if his master had given him a wife who bore him children, the wife and children remained the property of the master. But if the slave loved his wife and children more than he did his freedom, he could declare his love before a judge and his master would pierce his ear as a sign that henceforth he was serving his master not out of duty but out of love .

Romans 13:8 tells us that LOVE is a debt we owe to each other. We are admonished to owe no man anything --- except love --- a debt, which we will never be able to pay in full !!!

And who does not love John 3:16 , the best love story of all !!!
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him , should not perish but have everlasting life.”

“Beloved, if God so loved us.. we ought to love one another!”
( I John 4:11)