God's Faithful Love

Drawing Near With Thankful Heart


“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.” (Psalm100:4)

This morning, when I woke up, I had a song in my spirit.  It’s an old hymn that I grew up singing.  “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”  I am so thankful for the faithfulness of God’s love—that it remains unchanging.  “Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not, As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.”  Even when we are unfaithful, God remains faithful.  

   In the book of Hosea, God told the prophet (Hosea) to take Gomer for a wife even though He knew she was a harlot and would be unfaithful.  This was to be a symbol of God’s love for Israel.  “The book of Hosea is a love story—real, tragic and true…it tells of God’s love for His people and the response of His ‘bride.’  A covenant had been made and God had been faithful.  His love was steadfast and His commitment unbroken.  But Israel, like Gomer, was adulterous and unfaithful, spurning God’s love and turning instead to false gods.  Then after warning of judgment, God reaffirmed His love and offered reconciliation.” (The Life Application Bible commentary.)

True love is a commitment.  “For better or worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health.”  When we enter into the covenant of marriage, we are binding ourselves to that person “until death do us part.”  Even so, when we accepted Christ, we entered into a covenant relationship with God, sealed by the Holy Spirit.  We need to honor this relationship and not take God’s love and faithfulness for granted.

When Hosea married Gomer, she soon lost interest in Him and began to chase after other lovers.  Like Gomer, we too often chase after other lovers—love of money, power, recognition, etc…  We leave our first love, and begin to chase after the things of the world.

Thank God for His faithfulness, that He keeps His covenant of love with us! When we repent, He restores us and does not hold our sin against us.  

We need to call to remembrance our first love, and return to the passion we once had for God.  Just as a new bride loves her husband—leaving her family and forsaking all to follow him, God is calling us to leave our “lovers” and come away with Him.

On this day of thanks, let us think on the faithfulness of God’s love, and may it cause us to draw nearer to Him.