Walking home from work this evening, I was feeling affectionate toward Jesus. Not overwhelmed by a downpour of emotion, there was drizzling sweetness that accompanied my contemplation on His humanity. Being more aware of my affection than wrapped up in it, I was struck by how little love I felt for my Savior in years past. “If someone had asked me six or seven years ago,” I pondered, “why it is that I love Jesus, what would my response have been?” I answered to myself, “I would have talked about how much I loved Him because of what He did for me on the cross.” This propelled me to think about all of the other reasons (inlcuding the cross) that I love Jesus Christ. In the Bible I get to read about his intimacy with really rough people. I love his patience with people and his enthusiasm over both large gatherings and solitude. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about his sexual purity and how much he loved, honored and respected women.

“What would I have said,” I mused, “if – six or seven years ago – someone asked me, ‘Would you love Jesus even if He never died on the cross?’” Upon that notion I thought, “Nevermind ‘six or seven years ago!’ What would I say this minute?!” Maybe the first questions is – could I love Jesus if He hadn’t been made a sacrifice for my sins? Would he be any less worthy of my love and affection? Thankfully, this is a hypothetical situation, but would you love Him if this were the case? Could you love Him? Why or why not?