How Deep?

Yosemite

How deep
How wide
How long
is God's love?

These are the questions, full of reminders, from Sunday's sermon. Reminders that God will never give up on me. That He loves me forever and ever and ever....and that is all I really need. Everything in addition that I have is a gift and I remind myself of this. It can all be taken away in an instant.

In fact, in 1 Kings, God talks to Solomon, saying He will establish his kingdom and basically ensure Solomon's honor, prestige, and rule, as long as Solomon does not turn his heart from God. If he turns from God, He will cut off Israel and allow everything to fall. So why would Solomon ever want to turn away?

Foolish and selfish we are, right? We all have weaknesses. In Solomon's case, he loved many women who worshiped other gods and led him astray. He chose these women over God.

Really? He wasn't satisfied with his other hundreds of wives who believed and followed God? (And seriously? Hundreds of wives? I never understood how that was ever the "norm" in the Old Testament) But he desired that which he knew would lead him away from serving God. He took the easy road. Giving into temptation. How sad it is that women can lead a godly man astray! That's not how it's supposed to happen! For it is my hope that the man I am meant to be with will be strong in the Lord and that us being together will glorify God more. I read the story, disappointed in Solomon, and yet I am reminded through his faults that he was human, as we all are, and we all falter. But God doesn't give up on us.

So while disappointment rings through the story, I am reminded that God's love is so deep and wide that I cannot even fathom it, but need only accept it and trust in it always. And it encourages me to know that God will never, never give up on me.