The Measure of His Love

When I think of how much God loves me, I am lost for words.

Have you experienced love? I think we have all had at least one experience with love – parental love, sibling love, love in friendship, and of course, romantic love. Now I want you to think about this for a moment – how do these kinds of love match against the love of God? Can the love of a parent, sibling or spouse towards a child compare to God’s love?

Towards the end of this week, I was in dire need of a gentle reminder of God’s love. It was a long, tiring week, and I was exhausted. I needed comfort from the only one who understands me well – the Lord. I needed to feel His love, His embrace, and His comfort. As I waited patiently to receive His ‘hug’, I found myself thinking hard about His love. Let me share the thoughts that came to mind.

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His love searches me out

Before I gave my life to the Lord, I had no idea what kind of love He had for me. I was like the lost sheep described in Matthew 18.

Matthew 18:12 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?” (NLT)

I have always wondered why this sheep wandered off. What was he looking for – better pastures, more water, adventure, or did he just not want to follow his master’s voice? This sheep seemed to behave the way most of us do, as though we know how to run our lives better than God does, and as though we know what’s best for us.

So the sheep wanders off, but he wanders a little too far, and can’t find his way back. He is lost.

Meanwhile, as his master does the usual headcount, he notices that one sheep is missing – the one sheep who never seems to listen when he calls. The temptation to let this sheep wander off for good runs through his mind for a moment, but then he remembers how much this cuddly animal means to him. He hurriedly secures the other 99 sheep and starts to search high and low for this one sheep – a sheep too precious to be lost forever. The search is driven by one thing – Love. When the shepherd finally finds his sheep, he does not think for a moment about the trouble he has gone through to find it, as he is filled with joy and relief.

The Lord seeks us out because He loves us too much to see us wander off into the wilderness on our own, far away from Him. He desires that we remain in His presence, enjoying His comfort and His love. Even if I was the most troublesome and defiant sheep on earth, His love would still search for me and draw me back to His loving arms. How encouraging!

His love sacrificed everything for me

Romans 5:8 “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (NLT)

If someone stole your brand new phone on the streets, and then a few months later, asked you for a huge favor, would you help him out? If a street boy yanked the side mirrors and alloy rims off your brand new car, a car you worked so hard to buy, would you be willing to help him buy school uniform if he came to ask for your help? Personally, I would find it hard to forgive, forget and even make a small sacrifice for any of these individuals.

The Lord, on the other hand, made a sacrifice much bigger than these – sending Christ to die for us when we had no clue that we were sinners, and when we had no idea what the value of our redemption was. He took the first step – a step of pure love.

Let’s think about what it means to die for clueless sinners. Being a sinner basically means that you are separated from God. it’s like there is a deep depression in between the two of you, and to make matters worse, the sin inside you ensures that you have no desire to cross over to the where the Lord is. God, however, desires a relationship with you, so He decides to reach out to you. Sin, however, stands in the way, so He has no choice but to send His Son to bridge the gap by dying on the cross to conquer sin. The result? There is no more separation, and you are free to enjoy a relationship with Christ.

Dying on the cross was no easy task. To die for us, Christ had to come down to where we were and die in a way that would vanquish sin forever. To make matters worse, He chose to die for people who had no clue what sin was, or what its eternal consequences were. It was an excruciatingly painful process, a process that led to death, borne out of love for you and I. God’s love for us cost Him more than we can ever imagine, and purchased more for us than we can ever fathom.

God’s love sacrificed everything for me before I was born, before I knew what sin was, and before I knew who He was. His love reached out to me and gave all for me.

In His love, his faithfulness is revealed to me

Psalm 36:7 “How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. (NLT)

When you fall in love with someone, before you finally ‘settle’ in that person’s love, you will look for all means and methods to test this love with the aim of finding out if it is genuine. Couples who have been married for a while will tell you that even after they first got married, it took a while to ‘rest’ in each other’s love.

What is it in love that we all look for before we can feel safe in it? Faithfulness. Steadfastness. We all look for unwavering love, love that is rooted in something higher than the act of loving.

God’s love is the perfect example of faithful love, as this love is a reflection of His nature. In Him, we find love that does not lie, does not manipulate, is not selfish, and does not take advantage of us. Most importantly, God’s love has never failed, and will never fail.

As I meditated on God’s love, I realized that I often forget that His love is faithful as well as steadfast. In other words, even if I move away from God, His love will be waiting for me when I turn back to Him, with the promise of finding comfort, strength, and reassurance. His love never changes, just like He never changes.

Are you yearning to feel His love today, dear friend? I would like to let you know that the Lord is waiting with open arms to receive you and embrace you with His love. He sought you out when you were lost and sacrificed everything for you so that you could have the awesome experience of His faithful, steadfast love.

 

 

Hi, everyone! Thanks again for stopping by and reading through this week’s article. I hope that you are now ready to embrace God’s love anew and that you will get to experience the comfort of this great love that He has for us. Please share this article with anyone you know needs to be reminded of God’s love this week. Have an awesome week ahead!

 

1 thought on “The Measure of His Love”

  1. We are all sinners who are always wandering away from the truth. God does not wander away leaving us to suffer but in His loving kindness He always draws us back ‘home’. Glory to God for His unconditional LOVE

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