Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Amazing love

Reading again in Jeremiah this morning, it hit me. Not a new revelation, not some original twist on an obscure passage, just a fresh realization. He loves us... He really loves us. Now... if you read the chapter I just read, you might come away with something a little different. He is taking Israel to task for their disobedience and unfaithfulness. He is expressing displeasure at their willful wickedness. He is not happy, lamenting their history of rebellion. The question is, why is He unhappy. He loves Israel. He loves you. He loves me. And He knows that our sin will ultimately destroy us. He looks across the world every moment of every day, and sees the devastation. War, poverty, disease, murder, crime of every kind... sin and its consequences. So He reaches out to us. He sent the prophets from Moses to Isaiah to Zechariah. Calling us back to Himself. Calling us to faith. If we would only trust Him, and obey Him out of the trust, He desired to bless us and pour out the riches of His love. But for the most part, we wouldn't. And we don't. We walk in our own way. We trust in our own wisdom. We cling to our sin, and love this present world. But He loves us with an everlasting love. He never stops reaching out to touch us in the depths of our being. The uncreated, infinite, eternal Creator and Sustainer of all that exists is constantly reaching out to tiny, weak, broken, rebellious little creatures who live in a greatly exaggerated delusion of their own inherent importance. The Infinite took on flesh and blood to show us just how much He loves. He was both making a way to restore us and winning our hearts in one magnificent act of sacrificial love. He didn't need us. He will forever be great and awesome beyond any human comprehension. But He loves us. He created us to walk in the experience of that love, and to share in the incredible plans of His heart. God loves me, and will go to almost any length to prove it to me, and to convince me to rest and trust in that love.

Words just can't express the awe in my heart...

1 comment:

kc bob said...

I love this ...

He was both making a way to restore us and winning our hearts in one magnificent act of sacrificial love.

... life is all about His love restoring us and giving us a beautiful new heart.