Are you a tactile person? Put another way, are you a shaker or a hugger? Do you shake hands politely or do you hug people in greeting? Paul exhorts his people to greet each other with a kiss. He says it five times – in Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26, and 1 Peter 5:14. Our problem is that we are “more civilised” so we hold each other at arms length so as not to invade personal space, and so on. Yet more and more, Christians in the west are following the example of their brothers and sisters elsewhere and greeting each other with a hug and a kiss – although man to man, kissing remains something of a taboo. We are to greet each other with an outward demonstration of love that reflects Gods love for us.
What does Gods love look like? What did Jesus teach about this? Luke 15:20 “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms round him and kissed him.” My wife had a beautiful dream/vision of this. She was in heaven, in the throne room. She could see God’s feet and his robe – but that was all she could see. Suddenly a tiny speck appeared in the far distance. God tensed, then He leaped up and ran as fast as He could towards the speck. As they got closer, she could see that it was a man. God ran up to him and flung His arms and His robe around the man. He hugged the man and held him close for a time, the He signalled for the party to begin!
That is the love of God. He so wants us to come to Him that, if we take a single step towards Him, then He will run towards us to welcome us with open arms and a great big smile. That’s my Daddy God. He forgives me when I turn back to Him. If I show willing repentance, then He shows me love and forgiveness.
It doesn’t get any better than that.
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