Valentine's day

God is love (1 John 4:8).

"Will you be my valentine?" I wonder if you realize how old this tradition is? Valentine’s Day is dedicated to the memory of a priest named Valentine who lived during the reign of Emperor Claudius of Rome around the year 270 AD. Valentine was imprisoned by the emperor because of his Christian beliefs. The emperor had forbidden young men to marry until they had served time in his armies, and Valentine was secretly performing weddings for lovesick couples. When Valentine was caught the emperor demanded that he give up his Christian convictions, but Valentine refused. While he was in prison awaiting execution, he came to care for the head jailer’s daughter. On February 14th Valentine was brutally put to death, but before he died, he left a note for the young woman he loved which read, "From your Valentine." Two hundred years later, Pope Gelasius made the anniversary of Valentine’s martyrdom an annual observance of the church.

Valentine died because of his love for God and all of God’s children. This certainly puts us in mind of God’s Son Jesus, who died out of His love for God and all of God’s children. Jesus loved God His Father so much that He would gladly do anything the Father asked of Him, even coming to earth to die for our sins so that we could be forgiven. And Jesus loved each and every one of us so much that He rose from the grave our sins put Him in, so that He could personally welcome us into heaven and hold us in His arms forever. Jesus did all this out of love.

It is fitting that the early church made a religious observance out of St. Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is about love, and all true, pure, perfect love finds its origins in God because God is love, and every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights (James 1:17). It was this love that moved Valentine to share God’s gift of love through the marriages that he performed, and it was this love that held him firmly in his Savior’s arms when death came prematurely. Every Valentine that you send has its origin in the love that comes from God through His Son Jesus Christ. Without our Lord, there would be no Valentine’s Day.

Jesus wants to be your Valentine. Will you be His?