Written and preached by David P. Nolte
GENESIS 29:16-30
In this text, we see a man who loved a woman and we see what he was willing to do to gain her love. There are actually two good patternsand one bad pattern to be seen in Jacob. He is certainly not the best representation of the way of love, but there are some good insights to be gained from the event as a whole. This entire scenario reminds me of another true love story in which we can see and understand the way of love. A young man by the name of John Blanford went to meet the object of his affection in Grand Central Station. He stood up, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose. His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida Army library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II. During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. In the process, John and Hollis were learning something about the way of love.
As their love developed, John requested a photograph, but Hollis refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked like. When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting, 6:00 p.m. at the Grand Central Station in New York. "You'll recognize me," she wrote, "by the red rose I'll be wearing on my lapel." So at 6:00 sharp he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he'd never seen. He dreamed about finally meeting her and seeing her face, and knowing her personally and not through the medium of mail. That's the way of love.
John had waited for this moment. Then a young woman was coming toward him, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls around her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. John started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips. "Going my way, soldier?" she murmured. John truly wanted to go her way! Almost uncontrollably he made one step closer to her. And then he saw the other woman. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat, and her large, thick-ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. John felt as though he was split in two, so keen was his desire to follow her, and yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned him and upheld his own during the terrible war. And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. John did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the book that was to identify him to her. He squared his shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman. "I'm Lieutenant John Blanford, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?" The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. That's the way of love.
So John looked beyond the disappointment he first felt at the middle-aged woman's external appearance and drew upon the love that had grown up in the correspondence over the 13 months. As he spoke, the woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test! I have two sons in the military myself, so I was glad to help out!" A test of love, and John passed with flying colors! He knew the way of love. Jesus knew the way of love, too. He invested Himself in our salvation. He invests Himself daily in our spiritual growth. He invests daily as He intercedes for us with the Father. He urges us, with no thought of recognition, glory or repayment, to invest in one another. Love one another is still His command. Serve one another is still His way. Reach out and touch one another is still His method. Until you walk His way, live His way, love His way, you know nothing of the way of love. Would you walk that way? Would you learn to love His way? You can begin today if you are willing to forget self, focus on others, and follow Jesus. That's the way of love! Jesus says, "Walk in it!"
Story from Salumith Ish-Kishor via A 3rd helping of Chicken Soup For The Soul, Canfield & Hansen, Health Communications, Inc., Deerfield Beach, Florida