Oh How He Loves Us

I really like the David Crowder Band song “How He Loves Us” and after hearing it a handful of times recently, I decided to stop and ponder the lyrics. After all, the Valentine hearts and flowers splashed across my computer screen each time I opened my email reminded me it was the season of love.  But how much more should the season of Lent, which began the day before Valentine’s Day, remind me of how much God loves us?

The David Crowder song starts with the line, “He is jealous for me.” I once heard a celebrity say when she heard that God was a jealous God she changed her beliefs because she couldn’t believe that was true.  While she misperceived God’s own description of Himself as jealous, I see it as a great thing because God is not jealous as man is jealous. He is not envious of our possessions, our skills, or our wealth. He is jealous for our attention, our love, and our devotion because they rightly belong to Him. 

Deut.  6:5: says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Jesus quotes this verse in Matt. 22:37 when the Pharisees asked Him which was the greatest of the commandments. So why should we give God our undying love? Because His love meant He was willing to die for us so we could spend eternity with Him and so we could enjoy His presence in our lives now.  Here’s how big God’s love is…

God’s love is faithful:  “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5)

God’s love is unfailing:  “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jer. 31:3

God’s love is generous: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1

God’s love is selfless: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10

Sing with me now, “Oh, how He loves you. Oh, how He loves me. Oh, how He loves you and me.”