Crazy Kind of Love

Love has been described over the centuries in many different ways. One of the most recent I have heard and I think it really fits is "Love is crazy." Steven Curtis Chapman recorded a song called "Something Crazy" on his This Moment project. You can click here to hear this song (and CD). Below are the lyrics of the chorus:

"And it's crazy when love gets a hold of you

And it's crazy things that love will make you do

And it's crazy but it's true

You really don't know love at all'

Til it's making you do

Something crazy"

This morning as I finished my reading through the book of Ezra, I was reminded of this crazy kind of love. Ezra was one of the key people who led the Jews back to Israel having spent 70 years in exile under Babylonian and Persian rule. His primary task was to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed in the siege of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Through nothing less than the providence and the promise of God, the people begin the process of returning to Israel.

In chapter 10, I read something that to the average reader may seem extreme, or rather, crazy. Ezra makes this statement to the general populace in verses 10-11: "Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, 'You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel. 'Now therefore, make confession to the LORD God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.'" How did the people respond? The answer is found in verse 19: "They pledged to put away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their offense." I stopped and at that verse and chewed on it a moment. Ezra told them they needed send their wives (and children) away, and they complied willingly. That seems crazy!

Keep in mind, God had specifically told them on numerous occasions to not intermarry with the locals. They disobeyed God, and the result was being led down a path of idolatry that eventually got them stuck in exile to begin with. (Please note this had NOTHING to do with God hating interracial marriages, it was all about getting involved in the pagan religious practices of those indigenous people i.e child sacrifice etc.) So, here Ezra reminds them of what God had told them, and they took the measures to align themselves with God's instruction.

hunderds of years later Jesus says multiple times that demonstration of our love is epitomized in obedience to God's word... even when it seems crazy. Our love for God makes us do crazy things. If you want a concise list of what I am talking about visit Hebrews 11. Okay, those are cool Sunday School stories, but really that is what God calls me to live. The same crazy love-filled life.