I Have Loved You

“I have loved you’, says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have you loved us?’”- Malachi 1:2

Now think about this a minute…who in their right mind would ever ask God a question based in such arrogance and ignorance? Your answer might be… unbelievers, and you would be right. Your answer might be… those who have just suffered a tremendous loss, and you would be right. Your answer might be… immature Christians and you would be right. But WE must also answer quite simply…ME/US, as well, if we are going to be completely truthful.  However, it is easier to deflect this to others rather than thinking of ourselves and how we ask this question often with our actions.

As a people, we are so spoiled with all that we have that we often cannot see or even appreciate all that God has given us much of the time. We live our life, all too often, feeling like we are entitled to these things rather than thinking of them as gifts from God to us. The problem for us is that the things that God has given us are lying among the stuff of the world and are indistinguishable in the messy room we call our life. With this being true is it any wonder especially when push comes to shove we wonder about God’s love…even if we are not so bold as to ask such an ignorant question aloud.

You say, but I don’t do that…then I challenge you in this. How do you “feel” and how do you “respond” every time you read in Scripture God saying, in one way or another, that He loves you, that you are special, that He delights in you, that He will never leave you or forsake you? By our inaction or our lack of emotions (read lack of belief) when we read these words we effectively ask God, “How have you loved us?” Questioning God’s love for His children is one the greatest of insults to God and His Word.

But, I wonder…do we not respond to the reality of God’s love for us because we do not consider or even, at the moment, remember what He has done for us in the past? He said to His people, “I have loved you…”… He has effectively told them of His love and He has shown them His love….doing both literally hundreds of times through the generations. It is sort of like not being able to remember from one birthday to the next what your loved ones got you for your birthday.

Today, we need to stop and reflect on this simple statement that God said to His rebellious people, “I have loved you’, says the LORD.” Do we want to tell Him back how much we love Him? Do we want to live in the certainty of His love which means that nothing in this world can sway us from our calling to bring Him glory? Do these truths make a difference in your day-to-day?  Today, is the day to do a self-checkup concerning your relationship with your Heavenly Father.  God has loved us, does love us and will always love us. The LORD said, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Well… how do we respond to that love?

Yesterday, Jesus reminded us how we are to respond, “‘Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Marl 12:29-31) Why? Again, for God in Christ made the greatest sacrifice…God showed His love for His people by sending His own Son to the Cross to die for us…His elect children…so that we would not have to endure for eternity the wrath of God…but rather we will live in the depth of His love for eternity. So, when God says, “I have (read also does and will) loved you”, we should repent of our lack of love back to Him and then say, I love you, too and thank you for that love….and then live in that love. It is so freeing and bolsters the assurance we need to be bold for Him as we seek to be God’s blessing to our neighbor.

God Bless y’all today.

In His Grip,
Pastor Mike