When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. - Harry Burns, When Harry Met Sally
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. - Ephesians 1:13
It is good to be included; to be invited into something special, to be given an invitation that you carry with you into the party - it's proof that you are indeed welcome. There was a time when invitations were sealed with wax, not to be opened except by the one for whom the letter was intended. These invitations and documents were marked by the seal of the one who sent them, and so it is with God. We step into the Kingdom of God through Christ and the Father seals us, marks us with proof that we are wanted, invited, even needed. It was the late 4th Century Bishop of Hippo, Saint Augustine, who once wrote …
Without God we cannot; without us, He will not.
God’s personal invitation is to join his family, take part in the glorious Kingdom of the Son and join the great mission of seeing all of His family come home. He wants to do Life with us and abundantly give Life to us. And we are most alive when we are in Love … receiving Love from God and learning how to Love Him back!
Above all else, this story we are living in is a Love Story. Yes, it is a fierce battle too, and when God moves heaven and earth to declare our worth, declare His love, the best of all moments is the moment we realize we want to spend the rest of our lives with the one who loves us most.