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The Lover of Our Souls

Sometimes I fear we are like Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. Throughout the entire story, Rhett Butler tried to win her heart, but Scarlett was smitten by the milquetoast Ashley Wilkes. Finally, as the story comes to a close, Rhett walks away in frustration. “I feel sorry for you, Scarlett,” he declares. “You are throwing away love with both hands and grabbing for that which will never love you.” As I watched the movie, I kept thinking, Doesn’t she see how much Rhett really loves her? He’d move heaven and earth to please her, if she would but let him. Why is she going after someone who would never make her truly happy? And we are Scarlett, ignoring the only one who can make us truly happy and chasing after figments of our imagination…things that will never make us happy—milquetoast lovers who pale in the shadow of the Lover of our soul. Of course, in the end, Scarlett realizes her love for Rhett and runs home to tell him so. But it is too late. As with most analogies, this one has a fatal flaw: Jesus will never throw up his hands and walk away. “Here I am!” Jesus says. “I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20).

Excerpted from A Sudden Glory by Sharon Jaynes


Daily Reflection:
In what ways have you been forgetful of God’s love recently?

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