February is the shortest month with only 28 days except in Leap Year when there are 29 days. It's a month of transition - moving from the coldest days of winter with hints of spring in the air. It's not uncommon, at least in Kentucky, to experience snow and zero temperatures one weekand signs of spring the next week - all during the month of February.
But more than anything, many people think of "love" during the month of February. Valentine's Day is observed annually on February 14. Also known as Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, the holiday emphasis originates from a Western Christianity liturgical feast honoring early saints by the name of Valentinus. By the 14th century AD, the holiday had evolved to a time for romantic expression, and by the 18th century AD, it became a time when gifts, such as flowers and cards, were presented to others as an expression of love and romance.
For those of us in the Christian tradition, it's fitting and proper for us to share small gifts as expressions of our love to our spouses, children, grandchildren, and close friends. But it's also a time that we should give consideration to the greatest expression of love in all the course of human history - i.e., the gift of "God's only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him (Jesus) will not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). That, my friends, is the ultimate expression of the inexplicable love of God the Father in the form of God the Son and with the indwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit!
"This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us" (1 John 4:9-12).
During February 2017, and in all times, may we show the love of God in all that we do.