It took me many years to wrap my mind and heart around the truth of the Lord being divinely obsessed with me. What does that even mean? And more importantly, why would someone care enough about me, despite all that I have done, to be obsessed with me? I grew up in a Christian household but, I did not know the Lord until April 28, 2017 during my first year here at Fort Hays. I had heard time and time again growing up that the Lord was jealous for me and that He loved me, but I never really had anyone explain to me what that meant for me specifically and more importantly, why.
When I think of the love of the Lord and His actions towards us, I think of the word “zeal.” There are two main Greek words (as the New Testament was written in Greek) that I think of that best depict this word. Zeloo, which means to desire earnestly, pursue. And then there is the word zelos, which means excitement of mind, ardour in embracing, fervor of spirit, zeal. In addition, I have heard zeal described as, “to desire with urgency and diligence.” That is precisely what His love is for us, urgent and diligent. His love is so steadfast for His children and it is so personal to each and every one of them. But why is this?
None of this will rationally make any sense until we believe the truth of His divine nature; after all, a divine obsession can only come out of a divine nature. He is love. That’s it. Obviously, this is not “it” to all of God’s divine nature and overall being, but it is a HUGE part of who He truly is. We see this all over the place in 1 John 4 and in various places throughout the Bible. Love is His character, it’s who He is.
What hit hard in the depths of my heart is that His love does not change. I could say that love is to God as brown hair is to me, describing a characteristic. Only problem with is that my hair color will change and fall off and eventually be no more; however, His love does not change, fade, or end.
Here’s the deal: God does not love me less when I mess up. His love is not based on my works (Eph. 2:8-10). I can NOT earn His love. No one could ever work hard enough to earn a love so great and so powerful as the blood of Christ for the atonement of one’s sins. And what is so great is that this love is not just for me, it’s for you too! No matter if you and I mess up, His love does not change for us. Now, is that a permission slip to keep on sinning so that grace may increase? “By no means!” as Paul writes in Romans 6. However, that is a permission slip to be free from any thought of condemnation from the Lord. There is conviction, yes, but the Lord’s goal is not to condemn you. His goal is to catch your heart, no matter how fast you are running away from Him and show His love for you. He is running to you, pursuing you, waiting to wrap you in His arms. I know it may seem hard to drop any kind of pride, fear, shame, doubt, anger, and bitterness, but believe me, it is all worth it to stop running and choose Him who is jealous for your heart. He has zeal for you… He is divinely obsessed with you (Exodus 20:5).