When God's Love Reached Down

Matthew 23 : 37 – 39, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" NKJV

There is absolutely nothing in this world that can compare to the LOVE that God has for mankind. Throughout the Bible, we can read many accounts of when God stretched out His hands to His people; unfortunately, we can also see where they rejected His love. I would like to remind you that the Bible was written over the space of many centuries. Still, from the book of Genesis to the Revelation of Christ, God is recorded as being a Savior, who is yearning to save a world that is lost.

Book after book and chapter after chapter, God remains the same in the Bible. However, throughout scripture, His people decided to reject His love and His law, and they ended up in trouble or in bondage. Even so, God had a plan that would bring them out of their afflictions. Over and again, we can read where God brought His people out of bondage and slavery, and delivered them from their enemies. Nonetheless, how many times do we find a place where He was able lead them to Himself?  

Even in the verses that I used today from the gospel of Matthew, we can see Jesus “lamenting” over a Jerusalem, who had rejected the prophets and Him. You can feel His heart break as you read the words that He spoke over Jerusalem when He saw their choice to turn a deaf ear and a hard heart toward Him.

Out of all the stories in God’s Word where God is reaching out to mankind, we need to consider a very important truth. Shouldn’t it have been the other way around? Shouldn’t the Jews and mankind as a whole reached out to God? How many verses do you suppose are written in the Bible where God is instructing His followers to turn to Him and away from the path of destruction?

From a Biblical understanding, I know why it has to be that way. Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I have chosen you from the world.” What I am asking is, “Where are the hearts of those whom God is reaching out to save?” Which direction are you walking today? Are you pursuing God or the world? May the Lord continue to grant us the privilege to pursue Him with our whole hearts so that we might find Him and experience His unconditional love? If we draw near to Him, He has promised to draw near to us.

In Love with God,
Pastor Asa Dockery