And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17b-19 (NIV)
My uncle was looking at the worn brown shingles covering the roof of his house. They were now more of a greenish color from the moss, and a small plant was growing near a low spot on one side. It was time to get new shingles. He knew from working on it years ago that it was a “24 square” roof (using roofing terms). The roofer went up to measure for the estimate. Using laser sights and measuring tape, the guy came up with 36 square. “I don’t know how I was so far off,” the man exclaimed. The second company measured without even coming in person. They used a computer program and pictures my uncle sent. They came up with 24 square on the first try.
Whether we are measuring for home or office projects, judging athletes in the Olympics, or figuring out if a walker can get around another person’s chair, we don’t always get it right. And the same is true about God’s love. We often measure how much or little God loves (or doesn’t love) others and us, and we miss the truth.
One minister took a 50-foot tape measure and stretched it across a room. “Is God’s love longer or shorter than this?” she asked. Is there a tape measure long enough to measure the length of God’s love? What if we set a timer? Baking has an end point. So do races at the Olympics. So do most projects. Does God’s love end? No timer lasts long enough to measure God’s unending love for us. No object can convey “how wide and long and high and deep” is the love of Christ.
Scripture says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This month, may you take time to dwell in the truth of God’s immeasurable and unending love for you and for all.
Chaplain Karen26