God Does the Unthinkable – He Sets His Affection on Us & He Woos Us!

I remember it like it was yesterday – being woo’ed – is an experience you don’t forget…

….Each morning within minutes of the clock’s black arrow pointing to 8:00a.m. I walked into my temporary corner office with its huge bank of wall to wall windows overlooking the university campus’s manicured lawns and garden beds laced with wandering brick paths.

There waiting for me on my desk was one white bakery bag containing the gooiest almond croissant – wildly sticky to the touch, with an almond glaze that lent a shiny sheen to the golden brown swirls encasing the flaky center. Ahhhh.

A smile touched my lips, while my stomach growled despite the fact it had one full size breakfast sitting heavy upon it. You see, I am a strong believer in The Big Breakfast and I never leave home without it.

What made these daily almond croissant ‘offerings’ taste even better was that they were left on my desk by an extremely attractive graduate student with an engaging smile, a great sense of humor, and, best of all, a godly guy whom I was deeply interested in.

He did, finally, ask me out – about 20 croissants later. And, about 20 or so months later, he proposed. And, now, about 20 some years later I am still blessed by that wonderful guy with the engaging smile.

woo

try to gain the love of someone, especially with a view to marriage.

Being woo’ed is a memorable experience.

It involves someone seeking to ‘win’ the affection, i.e. love, of another.

It usually involves some serious attention giving and some attention to details that are important to the woo’ed (in my case food and bouquets of wild poppies), and sometimes it involves a bit of foolishness.

Wooing involves putting yourself in the race, claiming where your affection lies – then, fighting to ‘claim’ that affection.

“Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you...”

– Deuteronomy 10:15

[tweetthis display_mode=”box”]The truth is unthinkable – God sets Himself out to woo us – to gain our affection.[/tweetthis]

He wants to win our love. He puts in His bid – his hand for our hearts and our love.

I realize this is a somewhat simplistic view of our relationship with God, but sometimes I get confused by the descriptions we give – things like sanctified, redeemed, justified by faith – I need the basic relationship model – version 101, please.

Being loved in a committed marriage relationship I get!

“As a young man marries a young woman,
So will your Builder marry you;
As a bridegroom rejoices over His bride…
So will Your God rejoice over you.”

Isaiah 62:5

The amazing truth is – God treats you and I as a bride – His beloved! He even rejoices over us!

We are loved – we are woo’ed by our Creator, Himself.

He offers us His eternal affection. His faithful love. The kind that is unchangeable. Not contingent on our behavior, our good looks, our bank accounts, but on God’s forever, unchanging character. Rock, solid.

God asks the unthinkable of us –

‘Be Mine?’