About 1700 years ago there lived a man named Valentine who was known for his great love for children. He was a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and among many of his close friends were many boys and girls. He taught them about the love of Jesus, the Saviour, and told them they should love each other. The children came to love him very much; he was so nice and gentle towards them.
Valentine and his friends lived in a time when everyone was commanded to worship the false gods of the Roman Empire. However, many of the Christians were faithful to the Lord Jesus, believing that to worship any other God was idolatry. So they refused to bow to these demands of Rome.
This strong stand made the Roman authorities very angry and orders were sent out to the soldiers to arrest any who would not worship Rome’s gods. Among those arrested was the children’s dear friend, Valentine. When he was taken away to the local prison the children were sorry and missed him very much. They knew that he would miss them also.
“What shall we do?” they asked each other. “How can we let our friend know that we still love him and think about him all the time!”
“I know what we can do,” said one. “We’ll write little notes of love and throw them between the bars on his cell window.”
And that’s what they did. When Valentine received the notes of love from his little friends, he knew the love he had taught them would not die. This gave him much comfort and encouragement when a little later, on February 14, A.D. 269, he was taken from the prison to be put to death for his faith in Jesus Christ.
What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.
ML-08/05/1979