“…I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” – Jeremiah 31: 3 (NIV)
God does not deal with us as finite men deal with one another. His thoughts are thoughts of mercy, love, tenderness, and compassion. His Word says, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7 – KJV). God’s grace is completely unearned and undeserved but demonstrates His everlasting love.
There is no better depiction of this love than in the parable account of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24). The prodigal son had committed some of the most shameful acts possible. He abandoned his place under his father’s authority and spent his inheritance on wild living. Both of those acts were (and are) shameful in the Jewish culture. He left his nation, Israel, for the pagan culture and even worked among pigs (against Jewish tradition) when he was at his wit’s end.
Normally, there was no alternative but for his father to disown him. His father did not, according to the Scriptures, our guide. Why? Because grace is based on forgiveness and love, not performance. The father’s undeserved and unearned favour towards his wayward child was not based on how he conducted himself but was based on genuine love.
This teaching, tender and touching, is the expression of the infinite compassion of our heavenly Father. The Lord declares by His prophet, “…I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee.” (Jeremiah 31:3 – KJV).
Friends, know this: While the sinner is yet far from the Father’s heart, wasting his substance in a strange environment, the Father’s heart is yearning for him, and every yearning awakens the soul to return to God. The tender pleading of His Spirit, wooing, entreating, drawing the wanderer to his Father’s heart of love. Yes, God’s love for us is unconditional and everlasting. Be merry, be glad. Return to Him today, His love is waiting!
Read: Luke 15:32; James 4:8
Bible Reading Guide: Proverbs 4:10-19; Matthew 26:31-46; Exodus 4; Exodus 5; Exodus 6:1-12
