God's unfailing love

    “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10)
    I read various versions of the above verse but this particular version spoke volumes to me. It tells me that even if everything around me fails and falls apart, God’s love for me will not. Just as God Himself never fails, His love for us also never fails.
    I am reminded of numerous stories in the Bible of God’s love for us. First and foremost, Jesus’ choice to die to pay the price for our sins so that we don’t have to face the consequences that we deserve, is testament of His unconditional love for us. The woman caught in the act of adultery deserved to die yet Jesus chose to publicly forgive her and release her from the judgement she so justly deserved (John 8:1-11). What about the woman with the issue of blood? She secretly touched the hem of Jesus’ clothes and was healed, yet Jesus chose to publicly acknowledge her healing and so reinstate her into a society where she had previously been rejected because of ceremonial uncleanness (Luke 8:43-48). 
    However, there is one story that catches my attention - that of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). The younger of two sons chose to take the inheritance due him and leave his father’s house to go off into a far country. There he squandered it on wild living. When the country was faced with a famine, the only job he could get was to feed pigs. He was so hungry that he longed to eat the pigs’ food. No one offered him anything. When he came to his senses, he decided to humble himself and return to his father’s house. He planned to ask for forgiveness and was willing to become one of his father’s servants. He made his way home and while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and ran to him and kissed him. Even though he asked to become one of his father’s servants, his father refused. Instead he reinstated him as his son, gave him a robe, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. He ordered a fatted calf to be killed and held a feast for him. His father loved him so much that he treated him as if he had not done anything wrong. 
    This reminds me of God’s love for us. God knows we are not perfect. Even when we don’t love and treat Him as we should, God does not hold that against us. The fact that He allowed His Son Jesus to die for us even before many of us were even born, is testament of His love. He put things in place not just for those who were alive when Jesus walked the earth, but for those who would come after. 
    My own life is not a perfect one. I remember when years ago, I chose to walk away from God. Yes, I enjoyed being out in the world but interestingly, I was not truly happy. I had moments of happiness but I had no peace. I was depressed and initially didn’t know why. Then I realised that it was because I had moved away from my God. I knew I had to make my way back to Him but it was difficult. But God loves me so much that He did not leave me to come back to Him on my own. He knew I needed His help and He helped me come back to Him. That was in 1992. I have not turned back since. God’s love for me has been and continues to be unconditional, amazing, and quite frankly incomprehensible at times.
    It’s the same with all of us. No matter how far we may have gone or we may go, God, like the prodigal son’s father, is waiting with open arms for us to come back to Him. And maybe you have not strayed from Him. Maybe you are just struggling in some particular area, or maybe you are going through a season of testing that makes you feel as if God is far away. He isn’t. He’s right there. One thing God assured me of when I rededicated my life to Him is that He will never leave me nor forsake me. That same promise applies to you. We may turn our back on God, we may even reject Him or take Him for granted at times, but God will still continue to love us. According to 1 John 4:8 & 16, God is love. God cannot be or do anything less than who He is…LOVE.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. Nothing can separate us from God’s love for us. It doesn’t matter what we are going through or what we have done, God loves us. Period. That has not changed and it never will.

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