For Sentimental Reasons


 

Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done, His marvels and the judgments from His mouth 1 Chronicles 16:12

And he took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, “This is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19

 

Sentimental. According to the dictionary it means, “of or prompted by feelings of tenderness, sadness or nostalgia.” The synonyms listed are, nostalgic, tender, dewy-eyes, affectionate and loving.

          Just the other day I was praying and as I expressed my love to God I thought of the words from the Nat King Cole song, “I love you, for sentimental reasons.” Immediately I felt guilty for minimalizing my love for God. It felt wrong but as I began to apologize, God stopped me. My mind was immediately flooded with images of my life, as a child, teen, young adult and on. The images were of moments of closeness to God, not all of them happy but all of them important, enduring and tender. I knew then, that though my love for God has many facets and ways of expressing itself, sentimental reasons were not only okay but necessary. 

          Revelation 2: 4 says, “Yet I hold this against you; You have forsaken your first love.” When we forget those things that drew us to God it is too easy to walk away from Him. It is those very memories of closeness, of rescue, of discipline and forgiveness that help us remember that God is faithful and omnipresent.

          I love God for myriad reasons and the sentimental ones are quite plentiful because, and I have to PRAISE God for this, my walk with him has encompassed the majority of my years. When I go to the sentimental reasons I can see Him in places and events I may have forgotten.  

          Sometimes memory lane is my enemy. It is a road filled with missteps, shame and missed opportunities. When I see my memories in the perspective of what God has done for and in me, I become quite tender, nostalgic and sentimental. Quite the opposite of being irreverent, it turns out that sentimental reasons are more proof of God’s goodness.

          Go ahead, sing it to Abba today. Thankfully he does not care how well or poorly we sing. To our precious Lord we all sound like Nat King Cole. God will love to hear the song and you will remember your own sentimental reasons.

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