Taking Love for Granted?


There are a lot of areas of my life I would like to improve on.  I have no doubt that people who know me would likely have a few areas unknown to me that they could also add to the list.  That's a scary thought!  Seriously though, there is one area that few of us may be aware of and that one area may even be one that I am not always aware of either! 

 I'm referring to the simple fact of taking the love of God for granted.   There is no greater truth in Scripture than the fact that God loves us.  In the Old Testament, the concept of God's love is often revealed to us in the phrase of God's steadfast love (Hebrew hesed).  This idea of steadfast love is used in the OT alone some 246 times.  God reiterates his love over and over again to both His earthly people Israel and individuals who know Him.  Without doubt, the greatest encouragement which I believe exists about God's steadfast love is God's persistent, consistent passion to love us.  Listen to Soloman's description here, 

“The LORD'S lovingkindnesses (hesed) indeed never cease, For His compassions (racham) never fail.” (Lamentations 3:22)

The problem with us is that we don't really believe it!  We are so inoculated against this unique truth by our sin and our lukewarm love in return that we end up taking it for granted!  Listen to what the prophet Isaiah said to God's OT people during his own ministry,

“’For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness (hesed) will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,’ Says the LORD who has compassion (racham) on you.” (Isaiah 54:10)

At the cross, God places the iniquity of us all on his one and only Son.  He pours out His wrath on sin.  In just the previous chapter Isaiah graphically paints the picture of God's everlasting love for us when he says in 53:6,10:

“All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.........he has put Him to grief; when His soul makes and offering for guilt.”

This, my friend, is God's everlasting love: that He sent Jesus to pay our sin debt because we could not!  The greatest verse and most well-known verse in the Bible is John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Maybe today you are tempted as a believer in Christ to be discouraged, despondent, or even depressed over some situation.  Maybe you feel that your husband, wife, or significant other doesn't love you like they should.  Maybe you are experiencing divorce or even the loss of a loved one.  Perhaps you are depending on your feelings or emotions to get through the day's challenges. 

 Let me encourage you to stop and just focus on this tremendous truth of God's steadfast love for you for just a minute.  What should our response to God look like?  Let me suggest the following,

 Let me encourage you to note the frequent occurrence of hesed with "morning"  in places like Psalm 59:16, Psalm 90:14, Psalm 92:2  and Lamentations 3:22, 23.   What a great way to start the day!   By praying for and praising God for His faithful, unfailing, and steadfast love, you are affirming the core link between you and the eternal God who loves you and keeps you moment by moment in His eternal embrace.

Let's not allow ourselves to take this for granted!







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