God's unending love

God showed me something cool about Himself during my QT this morning. Maybe you'll go, "Uh, yeah... I already get that..." but for me it was profound.

I'm reading the One Year Bible, and the book of Deuteronomy begins today. Already, in just the first chapter, the Israelites have rebelled against God's commands at least twice, they've murmured and complained, and they haven't trusted God to lead them. While there are consequences for their sinful actions and attitudes, something else occurred to me...

God never stops loving them.

I've always had trouble with Zephaniah 3:17, which says, "The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." I have a hard time applying it to myself because I figure, 1) it wasn't written for me, but for the Israelites, and 2) I don't deserve that kind of treatment from God. But just look at those rebellious, complaining Israelites! Over and over again, they sin against God—but they are His people and He loves them, delights in them, rejoices over them! And there are many, many other examples in the Bible of God's grace and love toward His people, in spite of their unfaithfulness to Him. (Hosea 11 is another one that pops into my head.)

So what God showed me was this: whether or not Zephaniah 3:17 was written to me, it reveals the truth about God's character and how He responds toward those He loves! In spite of our many failings, His love for us is great—huge—unending! He doesn't give up on us! AND—get this—in Galatians 3:29 it says, "And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you." So, us "Gentiles" are part of God's family (not just the Jews/Israelites) and His promises are for us too!

So, all of that to say, it's starting to sink in that God loves me in spite of my many failings as a mom, wife, and Christ-follower! (I mean, I know it in my head, but it's starting to permeate my heart more and more...)

I'm so thankful for God's Word!