A
few months ago, my wife and I made a visit to Europe. The visit was more than just for
sight-seeing as our daughter Ginger and her family live in Budapest,
Hungary. Since it is a rare occasion
for us to get to that part of the world,
we travelled to the neighboring country of Austria visiting two cities,
Vienna and Salzburg. In the picture above,
you will see the Makartsteg Bridge in Salzburg. The bridge was built in 2001 and crosses
the Salzbach River from one part of Salzburg to another. As Ann and I travelled by foot across the
bridge, we noticed what we thought was an unusual sight: there were thousands of locks that had been
attached to the bridge by young and not so young lovers. From my understanding, lovers will write
their initials on a lock. As they
visit the bridge, they will attach the lock to the side railings of the bridge
and then throw the key to the lock in the Salzbach River as a sign of their
never-ending love for each other. While
this might be something new to you as it was to Ann and I on that day of our
travels, I am told that this tradition is common at
a number of places in Europe.
Long ago in the city of Jerusalem, Jesus Christ became to bridge to a sinful humanity and our God. When Jesus faced a cruel death on a cross, he died for the sins of you, me, and for the sins of the whole world. In that act, Jesus Christ said that he loved us not just right now or not just when we do everything right and perfect. No, Christ Jesus said that he loved us forever. The Bible puts it this way: “In this love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and gave His Son as an expiation for our sins….”
I wonder about the locks on that bridge in Salzburg, Austria. Do all those lovers who scratched their initials on a lock and attached a lock to that bridge still love each other, or did their love fade away until the next beautiful girl or handsome guy come along… or until the stresses and strains of life snuff out the flames of love that burned within them or between them. I do not know. But I can promise you this: no matter what you do and no matter how long time passes, our God in Christ will never stop loving you. On Valentines Day, that is a love you can count on now and forever. Thanks be to God. Have a joy-filled week.- Pastor Randy Wall
PRAYER -- O God, I give thanks for your amazing, grace-filled love for me despite the fact that I so often to live the life that you have called me to live. Forgive me, God, through the matchless grace that is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
