My dad, a man of incredible faith, wrote the above words about a year and a half ago. In the recent weeks, as I have been working through the FAITHdare challenges centering on idols, I have been so encouraged by his line, "But God won't settle for anything less than the best for each of His followers and is so relentless in completing the wonderful work He has begun in each of His people." The idea that God is working on ME even when I have given up on ME is so heartening. We serve a God who is RELENTLESSLY pursuing and changing us...to the point where He will not let us get comfortable where we are! If you are being challenged in painful ways, I pray that this is an encouraging word to you, for "I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns" (Phil. 1:6, NLT).
I love the book of Hosea. It is the beautiful account of a jealous husband who relentlessly pursues his wife, loving her in spite of herself--A metaphor for the way God loves His people. The book also spends a lot of time talking about idols, and I learned something important from the first couple of chapters of Hosea this week. Part of letting go is finding complete satisfaction in relationship with Jesus. He longs to fulfill my deepest longings! Problem is, most of the time I don't let Him! I turn to other things or people for a "quick high" before even considering the very source of my desire. The adulterous wife described in Hosea is consumed by gifts, forgetting that the gifts do not love her like the Giver does! There is so much freedom in relinquishing idols for the one true God. He loves us so much more than the little gods ever could!
What have you been thinking about this week?
Great thoughts! I've been starting to see how relentless God is. We get busy with life, our flesh and slowly slip away from God. When we do that, he sends us warning signs and tries to gently bring us back to Him. But we're so far gone that we don't hear his still small voice within us. Then, when we've gone too far, He has to pull the rug out from under us to save us from ourselves. That hurts but when we humble ourselves to allow His hand to pick us back up and rebuild us, it always comes out for our own good. It's because he is relentless in his love for us, in his pursuit of us. I've started to realize how every Christian who has been blessed with the revelation of a loving God (because it's biblical that not everyone will receive this knowledge) should be on their knees every day thanking God for choosing us!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lord for picking little old me.