Honest question..... Is there any other God who approaches people like this?
"The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." Jeremiah 31:3
These are the things that I find astounding in the Judeo-Christian scripture.
What type of God is this? I mean, 'God' implies superiority. A different class. A higher being. So why care so deeply and be so committed to creatures 'beneath' you? …Disposable creatures?
If a 'God' loves at all, isn't it supposed to be earned? I mean, shouldn't he love you because you serve him, and if you don't he should not. But in these scriptures, YHWH says things like:
“...The Lord says, “I love you people with a love that continues forever. That is why I have continued showing you kindness." [ERV},
and he meant it.
Oh don't get me wrong, I have read all the parts where he commands a war in which many people are killed and also the occasions where he judges whole cities and countries resulting in their total obliteration. I have also read of the animal sacrifices which to our more genteel 21st-century sensibilities is bound to appear barbaric. But what I found out every time I sought to understand, are reasons based on this constant theme of committed love.
Okay. I have finally accepted that this God is loyal and loving by nature, but how does he love Humans?
I mean, I know humans, I am one, how does a loving God love such beings as us?
He is not naive, he knows exactly how we have become. In Genesis 6:5, it states
"The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time."
Yet every inclination of his own heart is good. As he said to unfaithful Israel:
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
I marvel.
May the Lord help me become even more like him daily. You might have gotten it to a T, but I still need to understand HOW he can love us!
However, this is precisely why I am devoted to YHWH. His love is beyond understanding and oh so pure and true!
As I earnestly seek to understand, I have come to discover a sensitive, eternally loving God who passionately - and I truly mean passionately in the purest form- wants the very best for ALL his creation - and especially horrible mankind.
It is his constancy that makes him and his love dependable.
“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed." Malachi 3:6
'God loves YOU' is not a feel-good statement to draw us to a religion and then trap us in a guilt-ridden world with no fun or escape. I have discovered that 'God loves you' is not a testament of your (our) worth or goodness but of YHWH's loyal character. He never created anything without a personal commitment to it. I mean THIS God still cares enough for the birds and cows to answer their cry!
"He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call." Psalm 147:9
As for horrible humans, he still always goes all-out to give so many opportunities to change just so he does not have to judge or punish them - and their animals.
"But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” Jonah 4: 10 -11
This is who He is. God IS Love.
The only question I had left was 'What will I do with this love constantly directed at me irrespective of my behaviour'?
I chose to accept him,
will you?
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
Psalm 136: 1 - 3
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" Romans 11:33
"that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Matthew 5:45
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