God's Steadfast Love

Hosea 11:1-11 (NRSV)

When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more I called them, the more
they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
and offering incense to idols.

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
I took them up in my arms;
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of human kindness,
with bands of love.
I was to them like those
who lift infants to their cheeks.
I bent down to them and fed them.
They shall return to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria shall be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
The sword rages in their cities,
it consumes their oracle-priests,
and devours because of their schemes.
My people are bent on turning away from me.
To the Most High they call,
but he does not raise them up at all.

How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
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.
I will not execute my fierce anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and no mortal,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.

They shall go after the LORD,
who roars like a lion;
when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west.
They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria;
and I will return them to their homes, says the LORD.

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Paul wrote, "I am convinced that neither death nor life . . . nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
- Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)
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STEPHEN was our determined, defiant son. When he was a toddler, I rescued him from oncoming traffic. When he was a child, I rescued him from snakes and other varmints. When he was a teenager, I rescued him from a raging trash fire. But I couldn't rescue Stephen from the bad choices he made as an adult, especially from his choice to leave God out of his decision-making.

My love for Stephen never wavered throughout his 30 years of life. Did I love him any less on the day he died than on the day he was born? No. Because he is my son, he was and always will be a part of me.

Like Stephen with me, I am one of God's defiant children. Regardless of my bad choices and rebellious acts, God doesn't stop loving me. Since I am in Christ Jesus, nothing can separate me from God's love -- not angels, rulers, current events, or the future; not the powers of this world or the spiritual world; not the heights of ecstasy or the depths of despair. I belong to my Savior, the One who gave me eternal life. I am forever bound to Christ by the steadfast love of God. Nothing can separate me from the Lord.

Thank you, Savior, that you love us eternally and unconditionally. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Not even our defiance can separate us from God's love.