Proverbs 20:11  Every child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.

Today is Ash Wednesday.  See if you notice any people with ashes on their foreheads today.  Hopefully you will be able to attend a service today as we begin the Lenten season. May our focus upon Jesus increase in these coming days leading to Easter as we draw ever closer to Him.

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One of my favorite memories is of 5 or 6 years ago when I drove to Akron to visit our son Jamie and his family.  He and his wife Tiffany have a daughter Sophia (now 12) and a son Sam (now 10).  My wife was already there and at that time I had not seen them in 16 months.  I didn’t realize how much Sophia and Sam wanted to see and be with me.

I was the recipient of repeated hugs and lovin’s.  They snuggled next to me and curled up in my lap, just wanting to be near me.  They expressed their love verbally and physically.  Sometimes it felt like they were applying a tourniquet to my arm or leg they squeezed me so tightly.

The marvelous thing is that they weren’t asking for anything.  It was clear that they were not “doing to get” but they were “doing to give”.  They were expressing what is within them.  They simply wanted to be with me and they freely expressed their love and affection in wonderful ways.

It’s amazing the impact that their expressions of love had on me.  I wanted to be with them even more.  I wanted to bless them and I found myself looking for new and creative ways to express my love for them.  This struck me as a significant aspect of what God wants in us as His sons and daughters.

He desires us to express our love for Jesus, not out of duty or obligation, nor as an attempt to get something from Him.  He desires that our lives express the genuine reality that we are thrilled to have Jesus; that we don’t take Him for granted.  Our actions and attitudes determine the genuineness of our love.  The more we walk in His ways and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us, the more we express our love for Him.  And He responds to that love in ways that allow us to experience even more aspects of His love for us.