“‘Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you.”

Isaiah 54:10
There is a Hebrew word that shows up often in the Old Testament: chesed. Though hard to translate because it is so rich in meaning, it’s the word used to describe God’s commitment to keep His promises. Think “unfailing love,” “loving-kindness,” or “compassion.” Author Sally Lloyd Jones translates it in her book The Jesus Storybook Bible as God’s “Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love” (2007). 

That kind of love is very different than the love we experience in our own relationships or see portrayed in movies. God’s love promises that when we trust in Him, nothing will ever separate us from it. His chesed toward us is permanent. 

I struggle with that. I tend to think that God’s love for me depends on my lovability. Men like my friend John, who is 29 years old and has Down syndrome, help realign my thinking. John told me why he loves Jesus: “Because Jesus loves me all the time.” For him the matter is settled; there is no doubt. You too can know with a certainty like John’s that you are unendingly loved.

 



Scripture Focus

Romans 8:31-39

Insight

“[God] loved us not because we were lovable,but because He is love.” (C.S. Lewis, 1941)

Bible In A Year

  • Job 31-32
  • Psalm 57
  • Luke 20

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