This Is Loveنموونە

We don’t share a friendship with God because of our “spiritual” bent of mind, our special ability to commune with Him, or our supposedly stellar moral track record.

The simple truth is that God initiates a relationship with us.

He does the reaching out. He pulls us out of the muck of our sin. He offers us grace.

And He did all of that by sending Jesus to pay the price for our sin.

If you and I long for intimacy with God, let’s begin by recognizing that, in His sovereign grace, He chose us and made Himself known to us.

In today’s Bible reading, we see that we were dead until He gave us life. There’s next to nothing a dead person can do to secure life for themselves.

Knowing God intimately and personally begins when we recognize we bring absolutely nothing to the table. Very simply, the only reason we can be friends with God is that He offers us friendship. Take a moment to ponder these words from today’s Scripture portion: “But because of His great love for us, God… “ (Ephesians 2:4).

He is the initiator of that love relationship with us.

In recognizing our “deadness” and absolute helplessness in rescuing ourselves, we come before Him in surrender and awe, and there begins an intimate friendship with our Creator.

This is love—not that we loved God first but that He loved us. May we respond to His love.

Lean In

Father God, I come to You in wonder and awe. I come to You and say, “Jesus paid it ALL, ALL to Him I owe.” Because of one reason—Your great love—You rescued me and gave me life. Lord, as a response to Your love, I long to grow in my intimacy with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.