"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee" (Jeremiah 31:3).
Jeremiah the prophet reports here that the Lord God appeared to him and made a declaration concerning the kind of love He has for us. That declaration is absolutely reliable because God never lies. He cannot lie. Indeed the Bible affirms that it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18). He means what He says and says only what He means. Although we are made in His image and after His likeness, we humans have a lot to learn from God about being true and truthful.
And so God declares that He has loved us with an "everlasting love". When we think about this, we ought to get excited. God’s love for you and me has no end; it endures forever. His love for you predates your birth into this world. He has been lavishing His love on you when you were in your mother's womb and continues to love you after you were born. God’s love is constant, both in season and out of season. The everlasting nature of God's love causes Him to draw us to Himself with lovingkindness from time to time. Our duty is to learn how respond to God’s love.
But apart from God’s love for us being everlasting, the Bible teaches us about many other attributes of God's love for mankind. For example, God’s love for man is enormous and expansive. It is immeasurably enormous. Or how do you begin to measure the kind of love that could make someone give up his only son as a sacrifice to rescue those who offended him? That is unimaginable in our earthly clime but that's exactly what God did for us. The Bible says that God so loved the world that He sacrificed His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to save or redeem mankind (John 3:16).
Then we are told that God’s love for us surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:19). We see it anew every day. When you think you have known or understood the love of God, then you see something new of His love again. God does something that really surprises you and you are left to wonder about the depth of His love. I know that God loves me, but just when I think I can capture how He loves me in words, I am visited and showered with another uncommon show of His indescribable love.
Friends we ought to respond to God’s many-sided love for us, first by being thankful to Him. Our next line of response would be to love Him in return by living for Him and obeying His commands. Obedience is always a strong proof of love. Obedience also keeps us firmly in the ambit of God's love. The beauty of it all is that as we appropriately respond to God’s love, we are positioned to see more and more manifestation of His love. May you continually enjoy the amazing love of God for the rest of your life.
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