Read today’s texts first: 1 Kings 9; 2 Chronicles 8; Psalms 136; Romans 5
God’s love is active, not reactive.
We could hate Him, or worse yet, ignore Him,
but He will never, ever stop loving us.
I was happy when my son named his painting business “Steadfast Painting” - the word “steadfast” is often associated with God. Greg chose it because he is steady and fast when it comes to painting, but it applies to God because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). He is our rock, our foundation, solid, immovable, unshakable - exactly what we need to weather the storms of life (Matt. 7:24-27).
Our psalm today reminds us of God’s “steadfast love” a lot - 26 times actually, every second line. This must have been a soul gospel song, sung double time, backed up with a Hammond B3. I can picture Andre Crouch, with sister Sandra on the tambourine, ripping this song at Jesus Fest (sorry, dating myself again!). But the love of God is reason to celebrate! When everything in our world seems to be changing, most of the time for the worst, it’s reassuring to know we can always rely on God’s love.
Human love is fleeting. Our grand kids genuinely and generally love their Nana and Papa. But that love comes and goes, depending on how they feel in the moment. One day, I apparently hurt Kaitlyn’s feelings when I asked her to stop being a diva at the dinner table. She went to her room and wrote me a note. It said, with excellent hand writing I might add, “Papa, I hate you, love Kaitlyn”. Human love can indeed be fleeting, and confusing!
But God’s love is neither. In fact, our NT reading reminds us that His love is unconditional: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (5:8). We didn’t have to do anything to deserve His love, we didn’t have to clean up our act before He would help us. God’s love is active, not reactive. We could hate Him, or worse yet, ignore Him, but He will never, ever stop loving us. We talked yesterday about forgiveness being part of God’s nature; well, love is too. The truth is, God is love (1 John 4:8,16).
“Lord, my prayer today is with the psalmist: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever! (136:1-4). It’s so good, it bears repeating, Your steadfast love endures forever!”
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