The day of love, chocolate, roses, cards, flowers, dinner reservations, diamonds, candy kisses and matchmakers. This is the one day many people all over the world designate to express their love to that special someone in their life.
I wondered where "Valentine’s Day" originated so I did some research. Much to my surprise the origin of this seemingly romantic day, is very different from what we have grown accustom to. Giving women chocolate covered strawberries was hardly the tradition of that day. The holiday was saturated in pagan worship and customs practiced by the Romans, that we wouldn't dare trade our diamond necklace for.
In the early days of Rome the people celebrated a holiday, in the month of February called Lupercia. This was a pagan festival to honor the mythological fertility goddess, Juno. Marriage was very important and every young woman desired to be married and pregnant. So during this pagan holiday men and women would participate in disgusting acts in hopes to be blessed by the fertility god.
Young men would go to a cave, sacrifice a goat and dog, and then they would run down the streets naked with the animal’s blood on their hands. The women would be waiting for them, in hopes to be slapped on their hand by one of the men. This was believed to cause the women to be pregnant or the pregnant to have a healthy child. After the fiasco in the streets the women would write their names on a slip of paper and put it in a jar. The young men would then pick a name and they would be with that woman until the next festival or the two would marry. This practice was mostly done by pagans but later became common practice among the Christians.
Talk about the luck of the draw. Now we can see where the swapping of valentine cards tie in.
One of the many stories of how Valentine’s Day (which is also called St. Valentine’s Day) gained its name was when a Roman priest named Valentine defied the cruel Roman Emperor, Claudius II's decree to cease marriage ceremonies. The Saint assisted Christians in secretly marrying young couples when this was discovered by the Emperor Valentine was beaten and executed. Later priests wanted to remove the paganistic holiday out of the church. They succeeded and moved the date of the festival and changed its name to St. Valentine’s Day, as a way to remember the martyr.
I don't know if this sounds romantic to you but I am certainly not finding anything tingly about it. The little cupid with the love arrow doesn't seem so cute anymore, when you find out where he came from. Oh, and I didn't even mention why the men were in the caves. You should go to the internet and look up the meaning of Valentine’s Day. It's not all roses.
So many singles dread the month of February because they have no one to share Valentine’s with. I certainly understand these feelings, especially when you are being flooded with images of what marketing experts want you to interpret this day to be all about. When you consider what the day really is; the temptation to soak in loneliness or self pity becomes less desirable.
I am not suggesting you shouldn't desire a mate to spend special moments with. That isn't it at all. The problem can be in your pursuit of one. There is no need to be desperate to attain the one that God has already created for you. It's all about timing. Our heavenly Father knows how important companionship is. He showed us this when He created Eve (Genesis 2:18). He created Eve, and Adam never even asked God to do it. It was just a part of His plan. It was also His plan from the beginning for women to be married and to have children (this was not an idea of the fertility god). Marriage was created by God to be a pattern for all mankind and He has a strategic plan for it.
In the scripture, we have seen the results of man trying to attain God’s blessings without His assistance. We have seen illegitimate children born, deception and even murder.
I have seen people tolerate ungodly behaviors from the opposite sex, for the chance of striking it lucky with that person. I have seen them camp out at Christian conferences, join all kinds of dating programs, spend way too much money and for what? Some would call this making themselves available. And I get that. You just have to be careful not to be so consumed in the task of soul mate searching that you leave no room for God to work.
I know that waiting for your mate can be tough, remember I wasn't always married. And trust me I did some crazy stuff in hopes to be blessed with a mate. I didn't go as far as being slapped on the hand with animal’s blood but still the stuff I did was crazy.
Valentine’s is celebrated once a year but God wants to give you a love to celebrate every day of your life. I want to encourage you while you are waiting for your mate to be presented, or for you to be presented to your mate. Not to let fanaticism, commercialism, desperation or just plain impatience cause you to do stupid stuff.
Trust that God is aware of how you feel and He knows it's not good for you to be alone. Find comfort in the Holy Spirit, as you wait for your mate to be molded into the image God wants him/her to be. I know you want more than just a Valentine. You want ALL God has created for you.
Daily Declaration - I AM VIRTUOUS
…seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence (virtue). For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 2 Peter 3:1-4 (NASB)
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