He is Mine

Growing up, I loved getting into our little white volvo. My brother and I in the back with our dog, Nash, sticking his head out of the sunroof as my mom drove. She would turn on her music and blast it as we sang along. We would listen to Bonnie Raitt, Don McLean, Amy Grant and so on, but my favorite was always Bonnie Raitt. I turn on her music now as an adult and it’s as if I transport right back to that little girl in the back of the car.

The other day I was listening to music that was not by Bonnie Raitt, but a song called “Mine” by Hollyn. She sings about how I am His and He is mine. As I thought about the idea that not only does He claim me, but He is Mine as well it reminded of a Bonnie Raitt song. She has a song called “I Can’t Make You Love Me” which is about exactly what the title says it is. I can’t make you love me if you don’t.

Now my mom may get upset with me on this part, but that’s okay as she uses me in her teachings sometimes too. She used to always say that the song “I Can’t Make You Love Me” was her and my dad’s song. She would use this along with a line from the musical Funny Girl that the “groom was prettier than the bride.” She has always said that my dad was so good looking that she didn’t know how she got him. That she can’t make him love her. Naturally, this irritated my dad and eventually they did find a new song.

All this to say, that there’s nothing we could do to make God love us. We don’t deserve Him. There is nothing we could ever do that could win His love. What is the beauty of this? We don’t have to because He chooses us! I can’t make Him love me, but for a reason I will never understand, He does. I will never measure up to be worthy of Him. I will never be deserving of His love and yet He bestows it on me willingly, happily, perfectly.

As I sang along in my own car about how He is mine, I could only smile. I can’t make Him love me, but He is mine! My God belongs to me just as I belong to Him. He says in Isaiah 43:1 that “I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Ephesians 1:4 says, “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world.” This is more than just a simple God loves you. He hand-picked you above all others to be His bride and has given Himself entirely to you in return. He doesn’t see the imperfect me that I see when I look in the mirror. He sees only beauty even though this Groom is far prettier than the bride.