“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”
— Jeremiah 31:3
It was love at first sight. He created her, loved her, and wanted nothing but to be with her. And for the first part of her life, she loved Him back. But then she rejected Him. Despite His efforts to passionately pursue her and satisfy her every desire, she gave Him up. She chose her own way – a life without Him.
Fast forward a few years. She has been captured because of her own bad choices and is in immense hardship. She is sure that all hope is lost. But He is still pursuing her, and He frees her because of the depth of His love for her. He hurt because she hurt. And what does she do? Forgets Him. Runs after other things she think can fulfill her desires. And yet, He keeps on loving her.
Fast forward again, this time about 2,000 years. He is still pursuing her, and He meets her where she is. He comes down to be with her and live with her. For 30 years He is showing and speaking about His love for her. But once again, she rejects Him.
And she kills Him. Crucifies Him on a cross, leaving Him to hang in shame and humiliation. His last words? Father, forgive her. He didn’t give up His love for her even while taking His last breath.
But even death could not kill His love for her. He rose from the grave to pursue her again. And now, 2,000 years later, He’s sitting on a throne, still pursuing and passionately loving her.
That is you, sister. You are the one our Creator and Master and Lord of all creation is longing for and chasing after. You are the reason He came down to this earth, but you’re also the reason He was killed. I’m the reason my Lord had to die. And every single day, I get to choose what I’m going to do about this relentless love.
So the question is, what do we do about God’s love? We know He loves us and pursues us and wants us, but what are we supposed to do with that?
I can choose to go against His word and crucify Him again (Hebrews 6:6). But I can also choose to take this love, let it fill my heart and my soul, and from that overflow of love, bless others. To get us thinking about our response to this love, here are just 2 ways we should react to God’s love for us.
- Be Filled
Ephesians 3:18-19 encourages believers to know the love of Christ and to be filled with the fullness of God. When we understand the depth of our Savior’s love for us, we are to fill our minds and hearts with that love. We fill our hearts with love by reading His word to us and talking to Him about everything that makes us happy and sad and anxious. We fill our hearts with love by surrounding ourselves with what is true and noble and right (Philippians 4:8).
2. Live Love
In 1 John 4:7-8, we are commanded to love one another. Why? Because God first loved us. We are called to live in a way that shows to the world that we have been filled with the love of God.
Thank you for reading!
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With love,
Sarah
