The Great Valentine's Day Swindle? by Glynis M Belec

Valentine’s Day has come and gone. February is getting ready to pick up her skirts and meander off, too. The roses have faded; petals lay limp and dark on the dusty table. The empty chocolate box, littered with discarded wrappers, sits in the pantry waiting for me to decide whether to toss or recycle.

February – the heart month. February 14^th, the day young lovers celebrate affection and old lovers celebrate life. Mothers bake heart shaped cookies for their children to give to fellow students. Florist shops run out of roses; card shop cash registers overflow with profit and chocolate – oh the chocolate enticingly decorating the front counters. Lonely, unattached singles feel relief, wondering what all the fuss was about anyway.

Then it’s over.

Back to normal. The arrow on the ‘love-o-meter’ dangles precariously and the love that Hallmark designated to be ‘in the air’ a couple of weeks ago, evaporates a little. The once prominent display of ‘Chocolates for that Special Someone’ has now been slapped with gaudy red 1/2 price stickers and Easter bunnies pop on the shelves relegating the hearts to the rear.

So what does this mean? Was it all a hoax? Can we possibly only show love on one day?

Love has been gypped. She’s been deceived and lied to.

Someone decided that love would prevail one day a year. I’m thinking it had a lot to do with the ringing tills and chubby wallets.Maybe I am being a little harsh and negative – after all I did love the roses and the luscious Lindor!

All right. That’s it! Time to turn this around and really focus on how REAL love never is gypped.

Once I bring the Creator of love into the equation, there comes into view, a whole new picture.

God is Love – what does that mean to me? It means He reminds me 12 months out of the year that He is Lord and King of my life. It means He sent His Son, Jesus, to bear the sins of the world and to lay down His life. It means he loves me exactly where I am and He is in control of my life even when I feel like I am losing control.

The world will disappoint. God never does. The world breaks her promise. God never does. The world will tell me I am foolish and unworthy. God loves me no matter what.

Thank goodness God doesn’t slap a half price sticker on me when I feel less than lovely. Thank goodness I can remember past Valentine’s Day that love abounds. To God be the glory when I am able to reach out to someone-anyone and love them because God loved me.

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:9-11

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Glynis lives, loves, laughs and does an awful lot of reading, writing, publishing and praying in her home office. Her latest children's book - Hopeful Homer offers hope and encouragement to anyone who might find herself in 'the pit'. 

www.glynisbelec.com 

writer@glynisbelec.com