God knows you by name and by heart

What a great time to celebrate God’s love! God knows you by name and by heart.  He is a personal God who knows exactly how many hairs are on your head (Matthew 10:30).  You can’t read Psalm 139 and think that God is a distant, uncaring God.  He is the exact opposite! That is why He sent His very Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for the sins of each and every individual who believes.  He did this to bridge the chasm between sinful folks like you and I and His Holy Self.  I Peter 5:7 tells us that God cares about us.  He cares about your heart.  His love is eternal (Jeremiah 31:3).  God Himself is love (I John 4:8).

While we could conduct an in-depth study on the subject of love in the Bible alone, that is not the purpose of this post.  God’s love extends to you and I, and we must not miss that important point that will change our lives forever if we allow it to sink deep within our very heart, mind, and soul.  But let’s take God’s love a step further.  God loves the nations.  He loves the people in the world who live in remote, obscure areas that are hard to reach unless you fly on a helicopter, hike a rugged jungle mountain, or traverse a crocodile-infested river…and ultimately learn their language and culture.  He loved us enough to send His only Son from the splendors of His perfect realm called heaven to our filthy, violent, sin-sick earth just to reach us with His very own matchless love.  Talk about culture shock! Talk about Love!

Love does not come naturally to the natural man.  No way, no how.  I will be learning how to love people all the days of my life this side of eternity.  So this Valentine’s Day, I ask us, are we reaching to those closest to us with God’s love? Sometimes it’s most challenging to love those with whom we rub shoulders each and every day.  What about those on the other side of the world whom God knows by name and by heart and longs to reach with His unchanging truth and grace in Christ Jesus? There are many ways to be involved in the Great Commission which Jesus gave His disciples before He ascended back into heaven.  He not only knows us by name and by heart, He calls us to Himself – desiring a personal relationship with us and giving us the privilege of living to the praise of His glory as we proclaim Him to the nations and demonstrate His love by our words and actions.  May we make the most of every opportunity that He gives us this Valentine’s Day, and always.