Heaven waited and watched in anticipation of the birth of a child.
It was a child God had thought about long before this child entered the world. It was a child God loved immeasurably, with every ounce of His infinite love. It was a child that would make the Father laugh, and cry, and feel proud. It was a child whose birth God had anticipated since before the creation of the world.
This child was not Jesus.
This child was you.
He loved you from the beginning
When the Bible says you were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), it means that God took a particular interest in you from your very beginning. He knew you in the womb. He formed you there. He watched over you, cared for you, provided for you, nurtured you. He designed you. He thought about you! And I believe He anxiously awaited your birth.
Isaiah 46:3-4 says:
Since the day you were born,
I have carried you along.
I will still be the same
when you are old and gray,
and I will take care of you.
I created you. I will carry you
and always keep you safe.
You are loved
If there is one thing you come to know well this year, I hope it is this: you are loved intimately, intensely, and completely by the God of the universe. And He wants you to know it.
It’s an awesome thing to imagine that God feels this way about each one of us.
Some will read this and be unable to believe it. Why would God care about me? Why would He love me like this? There is too much bad in my life to be loved like this.
If this is your reaction, understand this: you have been lied to.
The lie you’ve been told
Satan is a deceiver, a destroyer, and the father of lies (John 8:44). He tries to destroy us by lying to us about our Father and His love for us. Peter says the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). If Satan fails to convince you that God doesn’t exist, he will tell you that God is a mean, uncaring, vengeful authoritarian who cares nothing for you, your life, or your problems.
The truth you need to hear
The truth is, our God is a loving, caring, attentive Father who withholds no good thing from His children (Psalm 84:11). He is the One who carries us on eagle’s wings and brings us to Himself (Exodus 19:4). He is the One who offered His only Son in order to redeem us (John 3:16). He is the One who, at the end of time, will create a new heaven and a new earth for His children, and will come down and live with them there for eternity (Revelation 21:1-4).
How much does God love you? Here is one writer’s attempt to describe it:
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
(The Love of God)
Allow time today for the Holy Spirit to speak to you about God’s love for you.