Loving God, there’s still more than three weeks to go before Valentine’s Day and you are already telling us how much you love us. You have spoken to us this morning from the prophet Isaiah just so that we won’t forget that you delight in us, you care about us, and you truly love us.
You love us unconditionally. You love us for who we are. I guess that makes sense because after all, you are the one who created us. You are the one who breathed life into us. Why wouldn’t you love your creation? Like an artist who prizes her masterpiece, so you prize and cherish us.
You have given each one of us unique gifts and talents and passions and you always seem to see our fullest potential far better than we can see it in ourselves. So keep reminding us. Keep reminding us of just how much you love us because we often forget for some reason. You already know this but we tend to get down on ourselves. We often put way too much pressure on ourselves to fit in or to be someone we’re not.
And so thank you for sending us Isaiah today who just wanted to make sure that we knew on this cold winter day how much you love us. And you know that by tomorrow, we’ll probably need to be reminded again. Maybe it will be a teacher at school, the director of a choir, a Sunday School teacher, a pastor, a friend who will be like Isaiah and remind us that we are loved by you.
And in turn, we pray that we would share your love with those around us, especially to our confirmands who begin their journey to membership tomorrow evening. We also want to share your love with the ones who need to hear it the most like the growing number of children needing foster care because of the Opioid crisis, the many people who are impacted by the government shut-down, teenagers struggling with anxiety and depression, college students as they are away from home, and anyone who may be feeling discouraged and in need of some hope.
We pray this in the name of the One who demonstrated your love for us by dying on the cross, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together…
“Our Father, who art in heaven…”
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