GOD OF LOYAL LOVE!
Deuteronomy 7:9
Have you ever wondered what it is like to love someone faithfully? In marriage, a man and a woman take vows to love each other endlessly until death do them apart. Yet, there are many marriages that fail to work out because of the disloyalty in their marriage. Disloyalty is such a great word for the cause of the destruction in a relationship.
When I was younger, a lady moved into my neighborhood. She had recently migrated from mainland India. She worked for a family who treated and loved her as their own blood. One day, she got fired from that job and was also abandoned by the family due to her disloyalty. Despite all the love and respect with which the family treated her, the only thing she repaid them with was her disloyalty. That day onwards, I realised what kind of destruction disloyalty brings in a relationship. This story reminded me of the faithfulness of God, who unlike humans, kept His covenant of love with His beloved (Deu.7:9).
The Israelites were referred to as God’s “treasured possession” (Deu.7:6), His beloved. Despite the fact that they were loved and chosen by God, they disobeyed God many times but every time they asked for forgiveness, God did not turn away nor abandoned them. Instead, God forgave them multiple times, when they repented. Moses knew the rebellious nature of the Israelites and therefore, he reminded the people about who God is and he asserted the two truths about God. He urged the Israelites to know that God is God and that He is faithful and thus, he keeps His covenant of loyal love with those who keep His commandments.
Many times, as humans, we fail to be loyal to the other person because we get distracted by numerous things of this world. The Israelites too were distracted by the culture and religion of the other nations. They failed God but God never failed them.
Paul, the Apostle, wrote to Timothy when he was in prison. He asserted that though we give up on God, He stays loyal and does not give up because He cannot be false to himself (2 Timothy 2:13). The very nature of God as faithful goes beyond our imagination. We fail God everyday yet, he chooses to love us despite all the sins that we have committed. When the Israelites were incapable of being loved by God (they gave every reason for God to abandon them because of their disloyalty) yet God chose to love them every time they repented. He is a God who is true to His words, and therefore, he kept his covenant of love with those who kept his commandments.
Today, if you have been disloyal to God, your Master, like the Israelites and the lady in my neighborhood, the words of Moses encourage us to turn to God again, and to be true and loyal servants to Him. God’s love is loyal and He continues to call us to safety. The loyalty of God is not an excuse for us to turn our backs on Him, but to run to Him and give ourselves wholly to Him again. God is pleased when we are faithful to Him, just as He is, to us.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank you for loving me and being faithful to me, even in those days when I fail to be the kind of person you want me to be. Help me to love and honor you with loyalty until the day I meet you. I want to become more like you and less like the world. Help me to be loyal not only to you, but also to the people around me, so that when they see me, I will be a living testimony of who you are, my Lord God. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
