The Bible In Your Hand

Have you ever woken in the morning confused and wondering what life has in store for you? If yes, you are not alone for all of us have felt that way at one time or another.

The prophet Jeremiah spoke words of comfort to a people that had recently been scattered across the face of the then known world. A people that thought they had lost all hope.  To them Jeremiah wrote: “The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying; ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Again I will build you and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice’” Jeremiah 31:3, 4.

To those feeling broken hearted and forsaken, God is promising that as He has loved those in the past, He loves you today and He will love you tomorrow. As I loved your fathers in days gone by, I will love you as I have loved them. But not only do I love you, but this is an everlasting love, a love that cannot be broken. And because it cannot be broken, I draw you unto myself.

Because he has loved us with this everlasting love, He will rebuild us. He will take our heart of stone and make it into a heart of flesh, that will be receptive of His love and His law. A law by the way which shows us the character of God Almighty Himself.

Hosea the prophet used similar words when he said: “I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them” Hosea 11:4.

To me this sounds like a God that truly loves us and wants the best for us and is always drawing us to himself. Therefore we should be happy and rejoice. The expression for joy and happiness here is in the shaking of the tambourine and the dance of those making merry for the grace and mercy God has shown upon them even though they have wondered from the LORD, He is still drawing them to himself.

So today, let us rejoice for we are loved by a God that has promised with an everlasting love that He loves us and is drawing us to Himself, the giver and sustainer of life.