Fred Craddock tells a story from when he and his wife lived in Oklahoma. 

There was a tornado warning. They went out on their porch. They could literally see the tornado coming. It looked like it was going to change directions, but it didn’t. In fact, it was coming straight toward their house! 

So they jumped in the car and started driving away. But that’s when they realized something. They had forgotten their dog, Gretchen! 

Gretchen was a little old wiener dog. So they turned around and started racing back to the house. The tornado was also getting closer and closer. Given the ferocity of a tornado, it makes you wonder: What in the world were they doing, risking their lives for a little old sausage dog? Why in the world would they do that? 

Well, as Craddock explains, the reason they went back is because they loved that little dog. And, well, love makes you do things.*

Love makes you sacrifice and not count the cost. Love makes you do something difficult even when it’s the unpopular thing to do. Loves makes you go the extra mile even though you barely have enough energy to get out of bed.

Love also goes to the cross. Why? Because you are precious to the Lord of life.

In 1 Corinthians 13:7 Paul writes: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

As the people of Christ, we are called to share and show the love we have first received in Jesus. Let’s do it for the good of others, and for the glory of one who goes to the cross for you and me.

Notes:

-*Fred Craddock, Craddock Stories (St. Louis: Chalice, 2001), 96.
-Bible quotes are from the ESV.