No greater love hath any man than he would wear out the car of his dreams in pursuit of the heart of a woman.
Okay, it’s not exactly Scripture, or even Shakespeare, but it just might be true. It worked for me …
After graduating from a grueling four years at an engineering college in Indiana, Joe, my then-boyfriend, now-husband, bought himself a present – a brand new 1975 Datsun 280-Z. It had it all – speed, style, great stereo, new-car smell. What a grand and glorious treat for a proud mechanical engineer who had spent most of his driving years behind the wheel of a Ford Falcon with a souped-up engine that sounded and rode like Mt. St. Helen’s on the brink of eruption.
Personally, I was ecstatic to be rid of the Falcon, no matter how sentimentally attached Joe might have been to his little green chariot of thunder. Many were the nights when returning a wee bit late from dates, Joe would roll the Falcon silently down the street in front of my house so as not to awaken my sleeping parents with the outrageous roar of his muffler-deficient vehicle. I had grown weary of having to roll down my window at stoplights to tell the hormonally charged teenagers in the car next to us that we did not, in fact, want to race them to the next light. I was tired of having to occasionally help Joe push the old Falcon through parking lots so that we could muster up enough speed to pop the clutch and get the beast running. I was weary of searching roadsides for parts that had mysteriously just fallen off.
Cinderella here felt worthy of a vehicle upgrade, so I was mighty happy when Prince Charming came driving up sporting his college diploma, a new engineering job and a great new car. At last I would be traveling in a vehicle worthy of what I perceived as my regal bearing.
Having just graduated from high school the year Joe earned his college degree and bought his new car, I was soon headed off for college at Auburn University – a 12-hour drive from Joe’s new job in Louisville, Ky. I loved Joe but felt that at my young and tender age, I needed to fully pursue what was then my dream – to play college tennis in the South, where the sunshine was warm and my nostrils wouldn’t freeze shut every day from November through March.
Being the great guy he is, Joe supported my Auburn decision. Fortunately, Joe liked me – a lot, it would seem – and so he began a two-year ritual of every-other-weekend treks to Auburn.
It was hard to believe that Joe would spend so many hours on the road just to visit little ‘ole me. But he did it, and in the process, managed to rack up some serious miles on his glorious new car. By the time we got married after my sophomore year at Auburn, Chuckie the “Z” was getting to be middle-aged and Joe made the painful decision to sell him in order to pay for our honeymoon.
In the final analysis, Joe gave up a perfectly great car in exchange for a very imperfect woman. All you guy readers may be thinking, “Was he NUTS or what?” but all you females know that Joe’s sacrifice left me feeling very pursued and loved.
And I think we all want to feel that way. Not the “singles-bar-haven’t-I-seen-you-in-here-before?” kind of pursued, mind you, but pursued by someone who wants to know our hearts, share our dreams, treasure our souls. Someone who is willing to sacrifice for us.
Unfortunately, in this fallen world, that can be hard to come by. People usually pursue people for all the wrong reasons and the result is disappointment, cynicism, disillusionment, and pain … lots of pain.
But there is Someone who pursues us for all the right reasons. His name is Jesus. If you’ve grown quite comfortable thinking of God as a stodgy father figure who dispenses guilt, condemnation and, occasionally, a few begrudingly-given blessings, open your Bible to the “Song of Solomon” and read it as the ultimate love story – a picture of God as a relentless lover pursuing us, the greatest object of His love.
Read the Gospels with eyes to see Jesus as a jealous lover who has come to earth to win back the hearts of His beloved – hearts sadly entwined around false religions, idols and lesser lovers.
In the wonderful book, “The Sacred Romance” by John Eldredge and Brent Curtis, the authors thoroughly explore this notion of God as a relentless pursuer of our hearts – a lover who longs to ride into our lives like a hero on a white steed to rescue us from living in our pathetic “small stories” littered with false lovers. It’s a refreshing concept for those who’ve grown used to thinking of God as boring and distant.
Consider this quote from “The Message” paraphrase of the Bible (from the Book of Hebrews): “Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love. … He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of His beloved Son … He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living.”
It’s a wonderful feeling to know someone has sacrificed something very dear in order to pursue us and to lavish love upon us. It’s the stuff of romance and fairy tales … and it’s at the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus.