1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. (Isaiah 43:1-4, ESV)
I have spent some time meditating on what would be the most important thing to remember in our Christian walk. Then I thought of this particular passage of Scripture. What is the Lord saying? The verse speaks for itself. God has called a people unto Himself and they are His (v2). He cares for His people and always watches over them (v2). The reason for this is that He sees His people as precious, honored, and He loves them (v4). As Israel was to the Lord, we the church are today. Remembering this will govern our Christian walk.
We are His people. The believer has an identity. We have a home and a perfect Heavenly Father. Many struggle with their identity. This is particularly so with young people transitioning from childhood to adulthood. We must always remember that by God’s grace we are now Christian. We have an awesome identity.
He watches over us. We may often struggle with the anxiety of certain situations of life. In these, we need just remember that the Lord is with us. He never leaves us. He never forsakes us. Even in the most severe trials the Lord is there to undergird us with His power and love.
He loves us with an unconditional love. I believe that if we could only remember one thing it would be this. God loves us. This one truth undergirds all the others. He looks at us and considers us precious in His sight. He loves us.
Consider the love of God for the nation of Israel. The nation did much to grieve the Lord. They went through times of great apostasy. They demonstrated coldness towards God and followed the practices of the heathen in idolatry. Yet even these gross failures did not change God’s love for them. He called them. He never left them. He never removed his love for them.
Let me give you one prime application of this principle of unconditional love. The Scriptures teach that the love God has shown us the model for love that we are to display. We should love fellow believers just as Christ loved us. This love is unconditional. Unfortunately, we often look at other believers and love them only if they meet the standard of our expectations. This is not unconditional-love. God loves each one of us in spite of our shortcomings, for we all still fall infinitely short of perfect holiness. The unconditional nature of God’s love toward us should define our love towards others. For this reason, we must be longsuffering, non-judgmental, forbearing, overlooking the strangest quirks and idiosyncrasies of our fellow believers. In doing so we will be loving as Christ loves us.
You see, the love of God for us changes everything and it is the motivation for our conduct in the Christian life. We must remember that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. We must remember that He never leaves or forsakes us. We must remember that nothing will ever separate us from the love of God. These truths will always influence true believers for the good.
Remember, you are precious in His sight, honored and He loves you unconditionally.
Renewing the Heart 