His Love Endures Forever

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever (Psalm 136:1-3)

             Do you get the message? His love endures forever. He's good, He is God (and there is no other) and He is Lord (all others are less than He.) His love endures forever. The love of other gods doesn't endure forever; neither does the love of other lords. Your significant other may decide not to love you. Your friends may tell you they never want to see you again. Your community, state or national leaders may not give you a passing thought after they promised so many good things to you. But God's love endures forever.

            There are times when I am hard to love. There are times when I find specific people or people in general hard to love. Neither I, nor anyone else can earn someone else's enduring love that endures forever. We have no right to demand it. This is the mistake many make. They think they deserve God's love, that they've earned it and that He owes it to them just because He made them, and they define love by their life being the way they want it to be. They say, "I deserve to have 75 degree temperatures and sunny skies year round. I deserve to have a job that pays at least the median wage for the nation. I deserve to have a faithful significant other who thinks that my feet don't touch the ground and that I am the center of his/her universe. I deserve the right to do whatever I please and still have God love me enough to force His forgiveness on me even when I've made it clear that I reject Him and all that He represents. I deserve His love and blessing no matter how wickedly I act." 

           And God does. His love endures to the point where He sacrificed His Son to make it possible to save us. It endures to the point where He volunteered to come and die. It endures to the point where He pursues relentlessly as the Hound of Heaven. It endures to the point where He takes seriously our foolish notions about other gods, and does battle with them to show that they are not gods. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. He is God. He is Lord. His love endures long enough to defeat your hate and, if you insist, long enough to give you what you demand in your rejection of Him.