United in Love

By Cheri Cowell –

To celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary, my husband planned this wonderful trip retracing our honeymoon journey along the Blue Ridge Parkway. As we meandered along the mountaintop we leafed through the pages of our photo album, reminiscing about the things we saw and did, and the carefree abandonment in which we approached life. One of my anniversary gifts to Randy was a recording of the love songs sung at our wedding and of our dating years. It was so much fun to remember the past and realize how far God has brought us. We remembered the tough times, the trying times, and the tender moments of those early years. Each evening and each morning we thanked God for the years He’s given us, and the years yet to come. True love is not always easy, but when genuine love is united with God’s love, that unity is a beacon drawing others to the One who is Love.

While this passage is offered as part of Christ’s prayer for His disciples and for all those who follow in their footsteps, we can also see how those who are united in married love share this same goal. Our loves: marriage, family, and brothers and sisters in Christ are to be a window into heaven. May our loves be that beacon for Him.

PRAYER: Thank You, God, for the loves in my life, for the way You show Your love through the relationships You’ve given. Help me focus more on the blessings my relationships bring than on the difficulties of becoming and staying united in love.

“I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:23 ESV).