when I think of this:
The Lord’s love never ends;
his mercies never stop.
They are new every morning;
Lord, your loyalty is great.
I say to myself, “The Lord is mine,
so I hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:21-24)
Truly, we would all be worthy of only death, had our Lord’s gift of grace not been bestowed upon us. It is clear for anyone that pays attention – we all fall so short of the holiness of God that we could never hope to be in His mighty presence. But He made us in His image, and wants our love.
So, He shows us love – lets us feel love for others so we can have a small taste of Him. He provides us with blessing upon blessing, and also lets us experience pain and heartache. All of these are requirements for a life well-lived. If we do not experience bad times, we will not appreciate the good. And I would even say, the more bad times experienced, and the worse those times are, the greater the appreciation for the good times when they come.
This irony is fitting, for us humans are fickle folk. We so quickly adjust to blessings that we often forget about them entirely, until they are removed from us. How often do we thank God for a light turning on when we flick the switch? Or the air conditioner or heater in our car when we turn the key? These day-by-day blessings are so easily tucked into the ‘assumed’ or ‘deserved’ bucket that we forget all about them. Yet take away the power, or the air/heat, and we immediately become upset.
Do we also take God for granted? His mercy and compassion is new every morning, but how many mornings do we forget to thank Him for this? I know that by the end of each day, I’ve fallen short in areas of my life and need to claim His compassion and mercy – thank you God, that you make them new for me each day!
My Lord and Savior, you are truly everything that matters. Your glory is beyond anything I can imagine, and I praise you because your mercies are new every morning!
#LoveMatters