A Bushel and a Peck

"Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, jealousy is as severe as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it; if a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, it would be utterly despised." ~ Song of Solomon 8:6

"Grampy, how much do you love me?"

"A bushel and a peck!"

What is a bushel and a peck y'all?! If anyone knows, please tell me! I don't know now, and I certainly didn't know then as a little girl. But in my child-mind it reached infinitely high, dizzyingly deep, and was boundless. Fully satisfying the knowledge that I was loved and never need doubt my Gramp's love for me.

Not long ago, sitting on my couch, I was cuddling with my friend's baby. Sleep was falling over him fast as he chugged the last few sips of his milk before going to bed. Fresh pj's on, he snuggled in the crook of my arm. At the other end of the couch, my roomie glanced over and inquisitively stated, "You really love him, don't you?" Without thinking, I replied, "Yeah, I really do."

My sister takes great photographs of, well... everything. In particular she loves photographing my niece and nephews. Viewing some online, this surge of love from the core of my being hit me and I thought, "I love my niece and nephews. I really love them!"

All this wraps up here…Sunday at my church I was reminded of love, primarily because God's love was so thick.

My mind went back to holding my friend's baby. The Lord gave me a picture of Jesus and the Holy Spirit hanging out on the couch, quietly chatting as I lay in Jesus' arms, dozing off to sleep. The Holy Spirit inquisitively states, "You really love her, don't you?" Jesus looks over at the Holy Spirit, nods his head just slightly and goes into a nostalgic revelry, "Yeah, I really do.

I really love her. It hits me to my core. She's the apple of my eye. Remember the day we chose her? Wow, that was amazing! I do…I love her. Her name is on my palm…see? Man, I love her so much it consumes me. It's stronger than death. There is just nothing that could ever tear my love from her, not even wild rushing rivers. All the riches and wealth in the world could never tempt my love away from her. Oh, and when she looks up at me like that…oh, man…she steals my heart all over again!

Yes, I love her…I love her so much…I died for her."

May we feel Jesus' love for us today. May we truly know and understand, to the depths of our beings, this boundless love of His for us. He loves you a bushel and a peck. He simply loves us. Yeah, He really does.

Psalm 17:8 "Keep me as the apple of your eye."
Haggai 2:23 "'On that day,' declares the Lord of hosts, 'I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you,' declares the Lord of hosts."
Isaiah 49:16 "Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands; your walls are continually before Me."
Deuteronomy 4:24 "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."
Song of Solomon 4:9 "You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes."