Thursday, August 15, 2024

Loving God Back

 

Photo of a Scripture verse


“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work
and the love you have shown him as you have
helped his people and continue to help them.”
—Hebrews 6:10

We, who believe in the life-transforming power of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, recognize that God loves us with an everlasting love. Before the foundation of the earth, God chose us to belong to Himself. We do not know, nor do we understand, why God chose us. We have nothing whatsoever to commend us to God. Yet, we accept the reality of His love and the magnificence of the forgiveness He has given us through the birth, life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of His precious Son, Jesus.

So, how do we show our love for God? We can certainly do so by obediently following the pathway that God has His Holy Spirit open up before us. We can also show our love for God by lovingly and obediently helping others to come to know of His enormous love and overwhelming mercy and grace. Note these words of the writer to the Hebrew Christians scattered across the then known world, as recorded in Hebrews 6:10:

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

God remembers everything we have done for Him in His Name. What a glorious fact that is. Please allow me to illustrate:

I recently watched a video of a dear friend, as he interviewed his mother on Mother’s Day. It was the kind of fun video that you would expect from this broadcaster. It had a simplicity marked by creative excellence. The love between mother and son was so very evident throughout this video.

There was her charm and grace revealed in the way she answered some of his most impish questions. He asked her about some of her accomplishments in life, her response to some of the behaviors of himself and his siblings, and what she was up to in her sunset years. There was such a warmth and tenderness to this interview that I sensed tears forming in my eyes, as I thought of my own mother and what she meant to me, even though she has been at home in heaven nearly forty years.

If we were to sit down and interview God and ask Him how He feels about us and what He both admires in us and would like to see different in our lives, I think we would feel a sense of deep and abiding love. His patient answers to our questions would validate the reality of the Scripture verse above. He delights in what we do for others in His Name. He is proud of our walk of faith. He encourages us in our Christian Spiritual Formation. He longs to see ever-greater obedience become a part of our lives.

On this new day, let’s remember, all through the day, that God does not forget the love we have shown Him, as we have helped His people and continue to help them. Yes, let’s remember God’s love and love Him back.

 

Based on a blog originally posted on Thursday, August 16, 2018

Copyright © 2024 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.