Beloved

By A. Schwarz

Does it ever break your heart to think of God’s all consuming perfection and love in comparison with our sin? Not in a depressing way, but in an overwhelming sense of awe that is almost crippling? While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us to redeem us and renew His covenant with us. Can you imagine, that measure of love for us who constantly fall away and stumble. To have a lovesick heart that, beyond all things, desires to be with us.

The prophet Hosea serves as an example for God’s love, not just as our Creator or Father, but as our Beloved. God tells Hosea to marry the prostitute Gomer and have children. Later, when she leaves him, God says to him, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods” Hosea 3:1. God’s heart breaks when we turn away from Him just as Hosea’s did when his wife left him, but we have been redeemed by Him who loves us unconditionally. The Lord has said, “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender” Hosea 11:8. And as we await His return from our engagement for the wedding ceremony, we should be consumed with the same kind of love and expectation for Him in return.

“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure” - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” Revelation 19:6-8.

Isn’t that one of the most exciting things, marriage? And with that, as only a mirror of our heavenly betrothal, how much greater and more amazing will this wedding be?

“Set me as a seal upon your heart,

as a seal upon your arm,

for love is strong as death,

jealousy is fierce as the grave.

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

the very flame of the LORD.

Many waters cannot quench love,

neither can floods drown it.”          

 Song of Solomon 8:6-7

A Perch Parable (Shiny Things)

By C. Sampson
It was a warm spring day.  A hungry yellow perch circled around the shallow edges of his lake home.  The ice had just recently melted and the water was stirring as the deeper water and surface water mixed.  It had been a while since his last substantial meal.  The cold of winter was a time of survival and he looked forward to the feeding opportunities that spring would bring.  As he made what felt like his hundredth circle around the same rock bed something caught his attention.  It was small, and he saw just a flicker.  Was it food?  He turned to look again.  Yes, there was definitely something there; finally he would eat.  Seizing the opportunity, the perch darted at the shimmering object and opened his jaws to capture the long awaited prize.  As his mouth closed down, he instantly knew something was wrong.  This was not a minnow, it was hard…and it was pulling him.  He struggled against the force to no avail and was dragged to the surface against his will. 

Recently, our leadership group at GCC has been talking about focusing on God and how easy it is to be distracted.  Like the lure the fisherman employed in the story, the world puts lots of shiny things in our view to draw us away from truth.  We are offered objects that appear on the outside to fulfill some sort of need-love, comfort, security, significance…After we grab hold, we realize that we have been deceived.  God is the only one who can truly meet all of our needs and He graciously offers to do just that. In Philippians 4:19, we read that “God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (ESV). We are not to spend our time seeking the fulfillment of these needs.  Rather, we are to abide with the One who supplies them. 

I admit this does not always play out as easily as it sounds.  Our enemy knows our shortcomings and will use our desires as an angler uses a lure.  We need to remember where our weaknesses lie and that these are where we are easily exploited and drawn away from the presence of God.  I Peter 5:7-8 says “…casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  Be sober-minded; be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (ESV).  If our eyes are clear and focused, it is easier to see things as they really are and run from the temptations. 

I encourage you to keep your eyes on God.  If you’re like me, shiny things can easily catch your attention and draw you into dangerous places.  Do not be lured into chasing after them, the fisherman might not be practicing catch-and-release!