In 1870 Henry Drummond published a treatise entitled 鈥淭he Greatest thing in the World.鈥� The greatest thing in the world, he said, is love.
He wasn鈥檛 claiming any special genius or superior intuition; he was simply quoting 1 Corinthians 13.13 from the Word of God. Drummond lived only 46 years, he鈥檚 been gone for nearly 125 years, but since his treatise was first published in 1887, multi-millions of copies have been sold and it has never been out of print. Perhaps the reason for that is that the truth of its message has never been out of date. That鈥檚 because its source has never been out of date and even when it had to be painstakingly copied by hand, the Word of God has never been out of print either. Love is the greatest thing in the world.
God himself is the fountainhead of love. Not the icky-sticky stuff of the entertainment world, but the real deal 鈥� love that loves because it has chosen to love. That鈥檚 the God-kind of love. Love that wants the best for you, love that will do what鈥檚 best for you, love that will keep on seeking your best welfare even when it鈥檚 being ignored or pushed aside. God is the author of this kind of love. God is the author of family love and of brotherly love. God is the author of marital love. He is the one who puts it in the hearts of a husband and wife to be attracted to one another and then to be devoted and faithful to one another. Love comes from God.
It is clear that God鈥檚 love extends to every person ever born and that love made a way for every person who would choose to, to come into a relationship with him through his Son, Jesus Christ and receive the gift of eternal life. In his Gospel, John declares God鈥檚 love for us: 鈥淕od loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life鈥� (John 3.16).
It鈥檚 one thing to understand and believe that God loves me. It鈥檚 another thing to have that love of God find its way into my heart. But that鈥檚 exactly what God鈥檚 plan is. When we open our hearts to Christ and he comes in, he does not leave his love outside. He brings it in with him. And he wants our hearts to be filled with him and his love/
Love IS the greatest thing in the world, and love is the greatest need of every human heart. God has chosen you and me to reflect it to our friends, our neighbors and our community. And they will be more ready to receive it when they know it鈥檚 the real deal.
