Daddy and Timmy were playing a little game after dinner one evening. Daddy kept asking Timmy how much he loved him, and Timmy would answer, “A whole bunch,” or “Lots and lots,” or “Bushels and bushels.”
Just to tease him Daddy would say, “But that isn’t enough.”
Finally, Timmy threw his arms around Daddy’s neck, squeezed him as hard as he could and said, “I love you that much!”
Their fun over, Daddy sat down in a chair to read a book, and Timmy went into another room to play.
A few minutes later Timmy called, “Come here please, Daddy. I want to show you something.”
“Maybe later, Timmy. I’m busy reading.”
“Oh, please come,” urged Timmy. “It’s something special.”
“Can’t you bring it here and show me?” asked Daddy. “Then I won’t have to get up.”
“No, I can’t ‘cause it’s spread out all over the floor in here,” answered Timmy.
“Okay, I’m coming,” Daddy said, laying down his book. “Now what is it that you wanted to show me?” he asked as he walked into the room where Timmy sat on the floor.
Timmy had a big map spread out on the floor in front of him. It was a big wall map that he had gotten out of the atlas.
“Say there, Timmy, you be careful with that map,” Daddy remarked when he saw it.
“I will,” answered Timmy. “Is this a map of the United States?”
“Yes, it’s a road map,” answered Daddy. “It shows the main roads and highways all over the country.”
“That’s what I thought,” said Timmy. “Now which road did we go on when we went to California last year?”
Daddy was a little impatient, thinking about the book he had put down when he answered, “Lots of roads, but mostly Interstate 80—that red line that goes all the way across.”
“How long is it?” asked Timmy. “Oh, about three thousand miles. Maybe even more than that.”
“And Daddy, what are all these other lines that are red and black? Are they roads, too?”
“Yes they are,” Daddy answered. “And where do they go?”
“Every place, I suppose.”
“And how long are they?”
Timmy looked up at his daddy who was trying his best to come up with an answer. “I don’t suppose anybody really knows,” he said. “I would guess maybe thousands and thousands of miles.”
“Maybe millions and millions, Daddy?”
“I guess so, maybe,” answered Daddy wearily.
“Well then, Daddy, that’s how much I love you—all that lots!”
“Oh, Timmy!” Daddy exclaimed, forgetting all about the book as he picked Timmy up. “So all this time you’ve been trying to find some way to tell me how much you love me!”
Timmy just smiled at his daddy and gave him another bear hug.
Somebody else has been trying to tell us how much He loves us. The little hymn that we often sing says:
“Wide, wide as the ocean,
High as the heavens above,
Deep, deep as the deepest sea,
Is my Saviour’s love.”
Yes, this Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, loves boys and girls and older people, too. He loved us so much that He died on the cross. There He was punished for the sins of all who would believe in Him.
What about you? Do you know anything about the love of the Lord Jesus? His love for you is far greater than any love that you will receive from anyone else. Timmy’s love for his daddy was “all that lots.” Daddy’s love for Timmy was even more. But the love of the Lord Jesus for you is so much greater than this that it cannot even be compared to human love. Won’t you respond to this love and accept Him as your Saviour right now?
ML-05/22/1983