Earning God’s Love

Earning God’s Love

Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

   There is a short book written by David Gregory named, “Dinner With A Perfect Stranger.”  A man gets invited to dinner with Jesus, and gets to have a frank, honest conversation with Him.  The first key point he learns is that there is no way to earn God’s favor.  There is no road that leads to God, no program to join, no secret words to say, no shrine to visit.  There is no human way to reach God.       

   Search the scripture from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find anywhere where we are instructed on how to earn favor with God.  Indeed, the Bible pretty much tells us we are going to fail, and fail badly.  God’s love cannot be earned or bought.  He loved us before we knew Him, and even before we were born.  His love for you is purely a voluntary act on the part of Almightily God. 

   When Jeremiah wrote of this love, this is not a “from now on” type of love.  Love is part of God’s makeup and is the core of God’s Being, and was in His heart from before time began.  God’s love is an eternal constant that never fails and never runs out.  Love answers the “why” of creation, and explains the motivation of Calvary. 

   Paul says that this love “surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19).  In other words, the sum of man’s knowledge cannot explain the fullness of God’s love.  Karl Barth, a Swiss theologian, was asked by his students to identify the most profound truth in the world. His reply?  "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!”

   Why do we struggle with this truth?  For many years I wavered over this question, when the evidence was right in front of my eyes.  For me, the problem was going through difficult times in my life.  It was so easy to adopt a, “God must not care about this” attitude when problems pile up.  But the secret of keeping strong in the face of trials and problems in life is to not only remember God’s love but to rely on it. 

   The best way to gain strength in life is to pray and meditate on His Word.  As you commune with Him, you will draw strength from Him.  I don’t really know how it happens, but somehow God will impart His love and His strength into your life.  When I feel at my worse, if I stop and pray a miracle happens in my heart.        

   There’s no magic answer to life that eliminates all pain and fear.  So as long as you need to go through these hard times, why go through them alone?  Why not pray more and complain less?  And let that peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 

Stephen Cram                               March 6, 2011                      Colossians 2:8