Undying Love

While the word "love" typically calls to mind I Corinthians 13, and the book of Ephesians is not usually thought to have love as a central theme, Ephesians has a whole lot to say about the subject.  In fact, I would venture to say that Ephesians rivals I John in it's depth of revelation about love.  While Ephesians is among the smaller books in the New Testament, it mentions the word "love" 16 times in just 6 short chapters.
I'd like to focus on three of those references here.  In the familiar and heart-lifting passage in chapter 3:17-19, Paul prays for his readers to be "rooted and established in love."  What meaning would you garner from this if an apostle of Jesus told you he was praying for you to be rooted and established in love?  It would tell me I had some work to do.  It would tell me I have a lot to learn about what love is and how to make it the foundation and core of my life.  It would speak to me of a hope of being unshakably grounded in love in spite of living in a unstable and often hateful world.
Later in chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, Paul tells us to imitate the love of God as we live out our lives--a high calling, for sure!  I'll never reach this level of completely unselfish love, but I'm so glad God gave us the Bible and then his Son to live out a love that stirs our hearts and challenges our very souls!  At least I have a picture of what I'm aiming for so that I can try each day to come closer to the kind of sacrificial love that Christ demonstrated throughout his life and most magnificently in his death.  It reminds me of a favorite definition I once heard of love:  "Love is seeking the highest good of others at your own expense."
Finally, in the last verse of the last chapter, we're admonished to "love Christ with an undying love."  He surely deserves nothing less!  In our weakness, our love may ebb and flo in its manifestations, but we need to be very careful that we not lose our "first love."  (Revelations 2:4)  Holding Christ pre-eminant on our hearts is worthy of every effort!  There is an old hymn that states the plea, "never let me outlive my love for thee."  The surest way to accomplish this is to be sure our love is growing day by day.  How to grow in love?  I John 4:19 says that "We love because he first loved us."  That fact leads us right back to Ephesians 3:17-19 that tells us to know this unknowable love.  The more we focus on the love of God, the more we understand it, embrace it and imitate it, the more the love in our hearts will grow for the author and embodiment of love and for everyone around us.