Continual Compassion

God is compassionate and gracious. Neither time, nor distance, nor the depth of your devotion can change the love of God for you. His love is not earned by our faithfulness, but His love invites us to live faithfully in relationship with Him.

“Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again...But they mocked God’s messengers...God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar...they set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem...In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia...the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia ...he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the LORD their God be with them.” ‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭36‬:‭2‬-23

Have you ever been around someone who just keeps antagonizing you until you finally lose your cool? Have you ever been around someone who just will not listen when you tell them to stop? We all have limits to our patience. Love is patient. Our patience can reveal limits to how we love. God is so patient that He allows people to make their own choices, even when those choices lead to destruction. If they want to destroy their lives, their communities, and their kingdoms, He allows them to experience the consequences. Free will can be a blessing and a curse depending on what path you choose. Yet God's patience should never be mistaken for indifference. He is righteous and just, and His love continually calls people to turn back to Him.

This chapter tells the story of four unfaithful kings, each unwilling to listen to the call to turn to God. We could focus on where the kings fall short, or we could see that their unfaithfulness did not cause God to stop pursuing them. The text says that time and again God sent messengers and prophets to tell them how to get back on track. Even within a story that documents the destruction of the temple, we can see how God is faithful and compassionate regardless of His people's actions. He looks for a willing heart and finds it in a foreign king named Cyrus, whom He moves to help rebuild the temple that had been destroyed.

How does this relate to you? Perhaps it is a day to take your eyes off yourself. Any of us who look close enough will see our own imperfections. Today is a day to look to God and see that He is faithful. He is gracious. He is compassionate. He wants what is best for you and is pursuing you. Jesus came to us; we did not go to Him. God is a God who never gives up on His promises and invites us to respond to His unfailing love. Will you listen? Will you have open hands, open eyes, and an open heart to respond to the love of Jesus? Never forget the faithfulness of God.

“Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us...from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. Praise the LORD, my soul.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103‬:‭1‬-22

Consider this passage in terms of time and distance. There is never a wrong time to praise God. You were made to praise. You have a song to sing. David said not to let so much time pass that you are silent or so busy that you forget all that God has done for you. God has forgiven your sin, healed your heart, redeemed your life, crowned you with love, provided for your needs, and actively works on your behalf. He loves you from before you were born until you return to Him in heaven. His love is everlasting to everlasting. There will never be a time when His character changes or His faithfulness fails. Time tells the tale of His faithfulness and unending love for you.

Distance. You will journey many places during your time on earth. Is there ever a place you will go where God is not there? Do you feel close to God or distant? David sang of all God does as He draws near to you and how far your sin is removed so that His presence can remove any distance in your soul. His desire is that you live in close relationship with Him. David said those who keep His covenant and remember Him will always have a reason to praise. The question to ask yourself is what do you want? Do you want intimacy with God? Will you take the time to remember all that He has done, is doing, and will do for you so that praise naturally pours out from you?

“Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go...Look! It is Solomon’s carriage...King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he made it of wood from Lebanon. Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior inlaid with love... King Solomon wearing a crown, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced.” ‭‭Song of Songs‬ ‭3‬:‭4‬-11

As you read this passage, it reads like a typical description of an early automobile until you get to the last line that it was inlaid with love. What does that mean? How would what carries you from place to place be inlaid with love? All of the other descriptors, the gold, silver, and seat, were external and material, but the inside was inlaid with love. The carriage was prepared for a wedding celebration, and while the outside displayed wealth and splendor, the inside was characterized by love.

So it is with us. As we travel toward the wedding banquet as the bride of Christ, God wants us to be inlaid with love. He works from the inside out and wants us to understand what it means to have the God of compassion and grace living within us. Solomon's wedding celebration gives us an image that helps us consider the love of Christ for His bride. We have a faithful God who invites us into a new covenant relationship with Him, not because of what we have earned, but because of His great love for us.

"Because you said, “The Nile is mine; I made it,” I will make the land of Egypt desolate...I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations...Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered. I will bring them back from captivity and return them to Upper Egypt...Then they will know that I am the LORD.” ‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭29‬:‭8‬-21

What can stand in the way of intimacy with God? Pride and the choices we make with the time we have been given. Every time we choose to make life all about ourselves and try to take control of the throne of our lives, things go poorly. The king of Egypt was revered as a god, and he began to drink the Kool-Aid of his own coolness. He claimed the Nile as his own and even took credit for creating it. He did not give praise to God but placed his confidence in his own power and greatness. God opposed his pride and gave Egypt over to judgment. The very things Pharaoh believed made him powerful could not save him.

Yet, even then God had compassion. He told them ahead of time there would be a scattering and a returning. To know God is to know love, faithfulness, righteousness, and justice. He is the God who does not base His love on our own performance. He loves because He is love. Sometimes the most loving thing God can do is allow people to experience the consequences of their choices until they are ready to return to the Father. His discipline is not a contradiction of His love. It is another reason to recognize that He is righteous, just, and worthy of praise.

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink from the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup." ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬-30

Time and distance. How will you spend the time you have been given? Will it reflect a heart devoted to God? Will what you do today mirror what Jesus did? Will you wash feet, encourage others, and point people to God? You have a limited amount of time. David said to remember that every day God is faithful. Paul said to follow the example of Christ and see what it means to live as one in a covenant relationship with the King of Kings.

Like David, Paul said to remember. David said to remember all the benefits of God, and Paul reminds us of the greatest demonstration of His love. Remember the Last Supper. Remember how Jesus' body was broken and His blood poured out for you so that your sin would be removed as far as the east is from the west. There never has been, nor will there ever be, a distance you can travel that will separate you from His love. Kings and earthly kingdoms will come and go, but the love that sets you free and the faithfulness of God endure forever. He is worthy of praise because of who He is and all He has already done. His love for you does not decrease on your worst day and does not increase on your best day.

Paul said we should examine ourselves before we eat the bread and drink the cup. On the night He was betrayed, Jesus was slow to anger and abounding in love. He established a new covenant in the midst of the conspiracy against Him. Think about the weight of that for a moment. The God who deserves all our praise was pierced for our transgressions. The One who knew no sin became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. The distance between us and God was overcome by the work of the cross. The covenant we could never keep perfectly was fulfilled through the righteousness of the One who wore the crown of thorns. Jesus established a new covenant through His blood so that we could be forgiven, restored, and brought near to God.

We do not ever have to wonder or question whether God loves us. We can look to the cross and know that higher than the heavens and deeper than the grave is the love of God for us. We do not earn His compassion or deserve His grace. He demonstrated His love for us while we were still sinners, while we would not give Him the time of day and had gone in our own direction. He died for us. There is no greater love than the love of Christ, and it is this love that is inlaid in the new covenant that carries us through our lives. Is that not a reason to praise? The hell He endured for us is why we can raise a hallelujah.

Jesus said to come to Him, all who are weary and burdened, and He will give us rest for our souls. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. The covenant we enter is not with an earthly king who will lead us into captivity. It is with the One who is humble and gentle, abounding in love and full of grace. Remember who He is and all that He has done on your behalf. Let His love fill your heart so that your mouth overflows with praise. Praise Him. Praise Him morning and night. Praise Him in your coming and your going. Praise Him, for there is no distance too great for His love, no season too long for His faithfulness, and no failure beyond the reach of His grace.