Recently I was hunting high and low for something, which led me to look in the pockets of everything I’ve worn recently. When I put my hand in the inner pocket of a suit jacket I hadn’t worn all summer, I found a piece of paper. The paper was similar to one that I sometimes receive from someone after worship, with short messages and prayer requests. I usually receive it as I’m greeting people at the door, so I often don’t have a lot of time to look at it or think about it as I prepare to greet the next person.

As I looked at this small piece of paper, I saw that the message on it was repeated over and over: “God loves you. God loves you. God loves you. God loves you…” I headed to the recycling bin with it, but then I thought to myself: “Did you pay attention to the message in that note? Or are you just going to ignore it and rush on to the next thing in your busy day?”

I don’t know about you, but I DO need to be reminded that God loves me frequently, not because God doesn’t love me, but because I can too often forget that God loves me and how much God loves me. I need that reassurance in an often hard world that can break your heart if it isn’t held together by the power of God’s limitless love. I need to hear that certain message that God loves me in the midst of all the uncertainties of daily life. I need to know that God loves me unconditionally in a world that seems to put conditions or prejudices or judgments on anyone and everything.

I’m sure that, just as God was trying to get my attention with that little note, there are many other ways God is trying to assure me of God’s love, to calm my inner chaos with God’s peace, and to challenge me to be more faithful in all my daily deeds and words. What I need to do is to pay better attention, to watch and listen for those signs and messages, and then to take them to heart, rather than ignoring them. May you be alert for God’s “love letters” to you each day of the coming week. One way to do that is to gather together for worship to listen for God’s Word of love for you and me.