All You Need Is Love
More fresh mangos are eaten around the world every day than any other fruit. Mangos are truly the “King” of the fruits. And, while living in Africa, we did our best, at the Kohn household, to uphold the trend! We loved mango season,
which runs from late November through February in Ndola.
Back in the day, in many cultures, giving someone a basket of mangos was considered a gesture of friendship. I would love it if a neighbor dropped by and gave me a mango basket! We often delivered some friendship fruit baskets to neighbors and friends around Ndola, whether we shared mangos, avocados, or guavas, the reception was always a resounding thankful Joyful Noise!
Like a mango, love is definitely the most delicious of all the fruits of the spirit. And that’s what we are all supposed to carry. That’s what should be our weapon. That’s what should mark us all as representatives of
the most loving guy who ever walked the earth – Jesus!
Mangos are probably number one on the international most eaten list, first and foremost because they grow in regions of our globe that are highly populated: In the warm climates of Africa and Southeast Asia, especially. Love, on the other hand, can thrive in literally any atmosphere, circumstance, or setting. But I believe it is most deliciously on display when it is put to the test, experienced, shared,
and enjoyed where lots of people are!
I have heard some Christians say they’d prefer just to be left alone and that it’s easy to live out their Christianity in sort of a bubble just with their family and the people they love most. But love shouldn’t be bottled up. Mangos shouldn’t be piled up or hoarded. They will just soften and rot away. When they are shared, they are enjoyed.
It’s the same with love too. It multiplies when it is shared with others.
I had a weird thought in a prayer time not too long ago, that’s relevant here. I was trying to imagine, if he was physically here, where Jesus and I would go to hang out…to talk, to laugh, and to be dad and son. Maybe a fishing hole or a majestic mountaintop somewhere. Or maybe a riverside camp, where the only sounds were the water flowing by and the breeze in the treetops, and the birds. But the picture that popped into my head, and that I believe, well-represents who God really is,
was none of those places!
I pictured myself standing on a hilltop with God, just a bit above what was the Silk Road (an early network of overland trading routes that connected much of Asia to Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. Where, this came from I have no clue! No mushrooms were eaten prior to this writing! And High School is way in my rearview, so I had not done any Silk Road studying recently. This road dates to the second millennium BC! Dust, kicked up from travelers and traders, merchants and their pack animals, filled the air from the caravans below. And the noise: voices and languages, and laughter, and crying, and movement…was intense!
And that, of all places, was the spot that it felt like God had handpicked for He and I to be together. I don’t think it was because He thinks I’m boring and He needed a few thousand buffer people to make our alone-time bearable. Let’s hope!
I think He wanted to show me a bit of His heart in a memorable way. His heart is a vast expanse of love for ALL people. And He wanted to share that with me! His love is so great that it includes me! It included all those people from all those places on the road I saw, across all of time! And God loves you too — so, so much!
Love doesn’t diminish when it is shared and spread around…it multiplies!
One day, I want to have a podcast. And on that podcast, I want to have a segment that explores awesome, powerful, and meaningful songs from recording history. Today’s song would be the Beatles’ All You Need Is Love.
I think they were onto something, but God was onto it long before
the Liverpool boys…
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.
And the greatest of all these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13
Lions Love Big!
Happy Valentine’s Day!