Domestic Churches

Recently I was getting my daughters ready for bed, and we sat down to read a bedtime story. I asked them to grab a book to read, and they picked Guess How Much I Love You. I always loved reading them this children’s book about a father getting his son ready for bed. The son tells the father to guess how much he loves him. The son spreads out his arms and says, “this much!” The father spreads out his even longer arms and responds, “but I love you this much!” They continue going back and forth describing greater and greater amounts of love that they have for each other.

Midway through the story, my youngest daughter jumps up and proclaims in a singsong voice, “He loves us from heaven to earth to the cross.” It took me a minute to catch on, but I realized she was singing Lord I Lift Your Name on High. I asked her and she told me they sang this song at school. I helped her sing the words of the refrain:

You came from heaven to earth, to show the way
From the earth to the cross, my debt to pay
From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky
Lord, I lift Your name on high

First, I was proud of my daughter for learning the song and remembering it. More so, I was happy to see her make the connection between the love of a parent for a child and God’s love for us. The love we have for our family in our domestic churches is a sign of God’s love for us. I am thrilled that she recognizes this and made the connection without any prompting. No matter how much I may love her, Jesus loves her even more. Finally, she reminded me that Jesus loves me that much too. He loves me more than any size or distance I can possibly imagine. While I may love my daughter as high as I can reach, Jesus loves me from heaven to earth to the cross to the grave to the sky. There is no greater love than this.