The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
Whenever I am brought to exhort, these are the words that come into my mind 90% of the time. It seems to be a major factor to what keeps me going.
I am loved with a steadfast love. A love that is longsuffering, a love that remains no matter what I do. I am loved, loved with a steadfast love. This is a love that is steady, a love that is for me no matter what happens to me. It stands firm even when I stumble, it stands firm even when I have no strength to get on my feet. I am, loved indeed! And this is no love defined by our limited thoughts – this is the love of no less than He whom we call ‘Lord’, no less than God, the Creator of all things seen and unseen; We are loved, and we are loved by the Lord, who is the Creator of the stars, the sun and the moon, and is therefore the Creator of time, and is therefore beyond time, present before the beginning and beyond the end. We are loved by the Lord, who is the Creator of the high heavens and the oceans and the mountains, and is therefore the Creator of space; He who created what is contained could not be contained – First and the last.
I am loved, we are loved – by the steadfast love of the eternal and infinite Lord, and therefore we are loved with a love that has no beginning and end, a love that, indeed, never ceases.
And as such, we ought to take in the consequent truth, which has already been said – For if we say that we are loved no matter what we do, or no matter what happens to us, we ought to also have the same confidence to say that we are granted mercies no matter what we do, or no matter what happens to us. God is infinite and eternal. His love is infinite and eternal. His mercy, therefore, is also infinite, and is also eternal. It’s a love that never ceases, and it’s a love that never comes to an end.
And what is the flip side of it? For if we know a love who (‘who’, and not ‘that’) never ceases, this is the same love that is always going. The point here being, just as we are amazed by how this love never depletes, and never stops, we have just as much reason to be amazed by the same love always overflowing for us!
This love that God lavishes over us is as over the top as it is bottomless!
Also, since the mercy God has for us never comes to an end, it implies that it always starts – or rather, it is always fresh; the words that follow say that ‘they are new every morning’. So even if new things happen to us, whether our senses would call these happenings right or wrong, we ought to take heart, knowing that God matches it all with mercy which is not only infinite and eternal, but apparently also fresh and new!
The mercy that God grants us is as fresh as it is as wise as the ages past!
So, as mentioned,
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end,
They are new every morning,
…Great is His faithfulness.
I’m not sure if the song matches the actual words found in the book of Lamentations, but there’s just so much to enjoy in these four lines. And to top it all off, we would just say, His faithfulness is great.
Oh, how this resonates with me personally. For there have been many times in my years in this world that I have stumbled. There were many, many times when I rejected the faith, lacked the faith, questioned the faith… but when I understood that this was a faith that does not have me striving by my own strength, but to trust in the full Salvation granted to me by Christ and His finished work… That’s when I agreed – indeed, it’s not a faith in my own faithfulness, but this Spirit poured out to me exclaims and exhorts, ‘great is HIS faithfulness!’
And not only does it give me peace for the shortcomings of the past… but to know that this great faithfulness is demonstrated by no less that my God who is infinite and eternal, man, it just keeps me going, and not only to function, but to excel in what I am led to do. I take more risks, knowing that Christ and His finished work guaranteed that God is THAT faithful that NOTHING could ever separate me from His love. I am more confident in exploring how I was built according to His design, without any doubts, or succumbing to the temptation of self-righteousness which would call me selfish for merely being introspective… because I know that my God would not take offense, and celebrate with me in every discovery I make, like a father would rejoice with His child.
His faithfulness gives me hope for the future, to the end of time, and beyond.
And it’s what I choose to share, this morning. Without any mention of anything else, or how I even got to this point of exhorting.
It’s my prayer that anyone and everyone who reads this would also consider this:
That more than religion or our human striving would have us weary trying never to stop doing good out of our own strength, we would instead be amazed by the endless love of God.
That more than any penance or positive thinking or any humanistic approaches to have us feel exonerated for the anxiety and fear that is just so infused to our being, we would instead find peace and comfort in the infinite mercies of God.
That more than any motivational talks or self-affirmations that would encourage us to try (in vain) to keep us consistent, we would instead flow in the great faithfulness of God…
All given to us, all granted to us, by the riches of His grace. As the old Casting Crowns song goes, not because of who I am, but because of what He’s done, and not because of what I’ve done, but because of who He is.
By His death, Christ has set us free from the hopeless cycle of sin and death.
By His resurrection, Christ has made us new creations, righteous unto eternal life… Here, and now, until the end of time, and beyond.
God bless us all.
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