Not “Because”, but “Just Because”
The Word: I have loved thee with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3).
Prayerful Contemplation: I find it very difficult to understand or grasp the fact that God does not love me for any reason. The very essence of the word “everlasting” means having no beginning and no end. This means God’s love for me existed before I was born – He loved me for real when I was just but a thought in His mind. He smiled to think about the smile He would put on my face. He made the sound of my laugh, and loved it. He gave me a voice that He loves to hear. And He knew, way back then, the mistakes I would make – but that did not change a thing about His love for me.
If a man loves me because I am beautiful, he cannot be counted on to love me when that beauty fades. If a teacher loves me because I get good grades, he or she will probably stop loving me on the day I fail an exam. If a friend loves me for my money, where will that friend be when the money gathers wings and flies away, like King Solomon says it is bound to do (Proverbs 23:5)? If a country loves their president because he is eloquent, then if something happens to that eloquence, they will elect someone else for that office.
God’s love, on the other hand, is not a “because” kind of love – it is a “just because” kind of love. He does not love me “because” of this or “because” of that. He loves me “just because.” No reason is required for Him to bless me according to the riches of His glory – He does it “just because”. No wonder He says through David, “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.” (Psalm 40:6.)
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God,” David says (Psalm 90:2). What does it mean to be God? I am hardly about to find out, with this finite mind. But what I know so far should be enough. A part of God’s “God-ness” if I may call it that, is the fact that He does not change. If He loves, He loves always. He loves equally. He loves with His all – which is why He gave His only begotten Son, so that we would become His adopted sons.
Practical Application: Nothing I do will make God love me less than He does. Nothing I do will make Him love me more than He does. He is Love. I should not worry about anything separating me from Him. This does not mean that I should sin freely, because it is this very love that gives me the free will to love Him back, or to turn my back on Him. Nor does it mean that I should live carelessly, because although His love is capable of keeping me from falling, it does not necessarily mean I will be spared the consequences of foolish mistakes. Today and always, may the Lord help me to understand, as much as my finite mind can, His great and everlasting love for me. May nothing ever convince me that He will stop loving me. May I always trust Him to be the only One who loves me just because.
Memory verse: How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings (Psalm 36:7).
Prayer: Indeed, how precious is Your love, gracious Lord! And all Your sheep can find perfect peace in the shadow of Your wings – in Your comforting rod and staff. How could I ever think that what I do would increase Your love for me? It is impossible – and so, dear Lord, today I say thank You for loving me. May I understand, as much as I can, that love that You have for me, and most importantly, may I never have a reason to doubt it, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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