Daily Word of Grace # 156 (October 20, 2020)

Recently one of the greatest guitarists ever, the legendary Eddie Van Halen, died. Like many others my age, his music was a big part of my life, especially from elementary school through college. From the landmark “Eruption” seguing into “You Really Got Me” on their eponymous 1978 debut album, through 1984—an album everyone I knew in high school loved (“go ahead and jump!”) and 5150 (“Love Walks In” was a perfect slow dance song). When I was a twenty year old college student driving around with my future wife Steph, we played their 1988 power ballad “When It’s Love” over and over again on the cassette player in my old Ford station wagon. The lyrics say it all: “Everybody’s looking for something, something to fill in the holes. We think a lot but don’t talk much about it ‘til things get out of control. Oh, how do I know when it’s love? I can’t tell you but it lasts forever. How does it feel when it’s love? It’s just something you feel together. When it’s love it’ll last forever.” During this time in which indeed “everybody’s looking for something” and things are getting increasingly out of control, we all need love more than ever. When it comes to God, how do we know when it’s love? Scripture tells us, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Moreover, God’s love “never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:8). With God, “when it’s love it’ll last forever.”

Love and Prayers,

Dave