Ezekiel 39:23-26 clearly reveals that God loves us with an everlasting love. He loves us even though we have turned away from Him and walked our own way. Yet our human, willful rebellion creates problems. Because God is totally righteous and holy, He cannot accept our sinfulness. To do so would violate His justice. So human sin results in a chasm between people and God.

It is not unlike what happens when one spouse is unfaithful to the other. A gulf forms between the two individuals, and the sense of distance is inevitable. Even our limited human sense of justice demands payment for wrongdoing, so we should certainly expect no less from God’s perfect justice. However, God’s love is perfect as well, so His love for humankind motivated Him to send Jesus, who endured the full penalty for our wrongdoing. Thus, the demands of justice were met at the cross of Jesus Christ.

Jesus did not come to earth to love a long life as a celebrated teacher. He came to die, which is why He could say from the cross moments before He breathed His last, “It is finished!” What happened at that moment and three days later has forever changed the lives of those who believe.

Take some time to pray individually or as a couple. As you pray…

Thanks God for His amazing, undeserved love;

Confess your guilt in crating a chasm between you and God;

Ask Him to give you the wisdom and courage to share the good news of His love with others.

If you have more time… Reflect…

How often do you genuinely thank God for His amazing love? Do you think that’s often enough?

What can you do to make sure your family doesn’t take God’s love for granted?

What can you do to make sure your family is equipped to share God’s love with others?

Consider these passages for further study on a Relationship with God:

Psalm 86:15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

I John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

I John 4:9-11 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Ezekiel 39:23-26

And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.

25 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob[a] and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid.

Devotional by Gary Chapman

God’s love shows us how powerful he really is!