Thursday, August 1, 2024

Scripture:

Romans 8: 35, Psalm 143

Questions to Consider:

What does it mean that nothing will separate us from the love of God?
How does human love fade?

Reflection:

I am thankful this morning once again for the great word we received from Stephen yesterday and it was providential as God continues to align our thoughts into a unified stream. I praise God for that.

This morning we will look once again at another facet of God’s love, God’s unfading love. It seems like we hear it often, celebrity marriages ending in separation and the principle reason is “irreconcilable differences”. The sad but honest reality is that people are sinful and we carry around with us a lot of baggage. This baggage comes in many forms and from various places but one constant is that baggage divides, separates, and puts us at odds.

When this baggage comes face to face with distress, hardship, danger, and difficulties we find ourselves left with differences that we feel are irreconcilable. Human love fades because of separation. We have all experienced this in some way or been affected by the failing of human love either personally or in those close to us in both marriages and friendships. It is a tragic reality of the fallen human condition.

There is hope for love though. When we consider the love of God we must gaze long and the facet of his unfailing love. We have baggage, God does not. We are affected by distress and hardship, God is not. We are faced with differences that we feel we cannot reconcile, God does not. We experience a love that is fickle and sometimes fades, God does not.

The key verse from Romans 8 is this:

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Romans 8: 35

and Paul continues:

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 38-39

There is no separation in God’s love, there is no difference that his love cannot overcome and as a result his love never fades. God loves his children with the same immutable love that represents his nature. His love is the same yesterday, today and forever. It will not decrease, it will not change, it will not fail. When all the relationships around us seem shaky, maybe even some of our own, may we be grounded in the unfading love of our great God and may we fight with everything in us to love as we have been loved.

Prayer:

Thank you God for your unfading love for us. Thank you that nothing will ever separate us from your love. Please help us to know that love and to love others as you have so graciously loved us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.