As my eyes got accustomed to the dimly lit interior of the public mini-bus (AKA matatu), I noticed a couple of drunk looking men; one was two seats behind me and the other one sat in front of me to my left. We were the sole occupants; and I couldn’t help feeling a little nervous about my safety. I looked at my watch and was shocked that I was in a matatu on my way home at 11:45 pm! 

But as I reflected on the events of the evening, a smile played on my lips. I recalled the quiet stroll my fiancée and I had had around her neighbourhood all evening, since around 5:30pm. Completely oblivious of the passage of time as well as any potential danger, we chatted and chatted endlessly. Her neighbourhood was about 14 kms from where I stayed and I had to take 2 matatus to get home, but that did not bother us at the time; neither did the cold evening air, and chilly gusts of wind that rustled the flowery shrubs growing on the sidewalks, along the estate streets.

Today, this fiancée is now my wife and we laugh as we reminisce on those days; and we wonder… What on earth did we chat about for all those hours on end?! How in love we must have been for me to disregard my safety and to commute for 28 kms just to be with the love of my life. In retrospect, it feels irrational, even reckless. Clearly a “Love that knew no bounds!” 

This story reminds me about someone who came down from heaven to pursue humanity, and He lay down his life for us. His love is described this way, in the words of Cory Asbury’s Song: 

Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me

You have been so, so good to me

Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me

You have been so, so kind to me

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine

I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

These lyrics describe the love of Christ for us. How he would like us to be aware of how much he loves us and has been pursuing us. How he would like to spend time with us, and desires that we respond with adoration and the desire to spend time with Him too! David responded to God’s love through worship and praise as captured in Psalms 63:3-4 “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.” – NIV

Paul describes what our response to God’s love should be. We should be joyful, prayerful and grateful as captured in 1Thes 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – NIV. 

And when we realize how His Love for us Knows no Bounds, and how “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” – Romans 8:38-39 (NIV); Then we can’t help but love Him back with all our hearts, mind and strength!