The Love of God: Love When Others Abandon

A favorite scripture of mine is when The LORD promises "I will never leave you nor forsake you." If asked what this means most Christians would respond with something along the lines of "God is always going to be there." This is good and true. However, If we read slowly we discover something more. Jesus starts with "I will never leave you." This does mean that He is always going to be there. But He goes on to say that while He is right there with us, He's also going to take it a step further and 'Never forsake us.'

As I was praying a while back, this thought jumped up and came to life in my spirit. Jesus made a deliberate distinction between leaving and forsaking! I began to think about the fair-weather friends and relationships that I've had in my past. I have people in my life that are still physically there. We're still friends and still relate to one another. But if I inspect the relationship closely, I can see that they mentally or emotionally checked out on me years ago. Don't get me wrong, they don't have anything against me. "They're just not that into me anymore." There is a reason why this phrase has become so popular. We've all experienced this.

God promises to be different. His love toward us will never grow cold. Not only will He always be present, but He will also always be attentive. There is never a moment when God's love wavers. His attention never wanes. The dreams and plans, the thoughts of love (and an eternity spent together) never diminish from God's side. We may let it grow cold but God won't. David said that even if we choose to abandon God and make our bed in Hell, His love will be inescapably there. His love is always there. A lot of folks talk about faith and then try to make the saved life all about themselves and their choices, journeys or struggles. Let's get back to knowing God. True relationship with God starts when we realize that "not only is He always there, He is always steadfast in His love and faithfulness. There is no shadow of turning with Him." How can we help but respond to a Love so vast and unchanging? Let us embrace the Loving Lord Jesus even more this year. He alone is steadfast. We have been given an opportunity to trust and obey the one who never forsakes us even when all others abandon.

Pastor Ed