“God has been so good to us! I want to thank Him for our anniversary.” Tina’s voice was steady, and the tears in her eyes showed her sincerity. Those in our small group were deeply moved. We knew what the past years had held for Tina and her husband. Though a believer, Robert suffered from the sudden onset of severe mental illness and had taken the life of their four-year-old daughter. He would be institutionalised for decades, but Tina visited him, and God did a beautiful healing work, helping her forgive. Despite profound heartache, their love for each other grew.
Love and forgiveness like that could only come from one source. David writes about God this way, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve . . . . As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:10, 12).
The mercy God shows us comes through His expansive love: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love” for us (v. 11). Love so profound compelled Him to go to the depths of the cross and grave to take away our sins so that He could bring all who “receive him” (John 1:12) home to Himself.
Tina was right. “God has been so good to us!” His love and forgiveness reach beyond unthinkable boundaries and offer us life that never ends.
By James Banks
REFLECT & PRAY
How has God shown you mercy for wrong things you’ve done? How can you respond to His mercy and love today?
Merciful God, please help me to revel in Your love and to grow in it. Love through me, that others may know Your perfect love too!
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
God’s people have a propensity to be forgetful and unfaithful (see Deuteronomy 6:10-12; 8:11; Jeremiah 3:21-22). Psalm 103 reminds us not to forget God but to remember what He’s done. To ensure that we “forget not all his benefits” (v. 2), the psalmist lists the things God’s done to show His great love for us (vv. 3-19). He calls us to reaffirm who God is and to remember who we are ( vv. 8-19). God is compassionate, slow to anger, loving, forgiving, and gracious and “does not punish us for all our sins . . . [or] deal harshly with us, as we deserve” (v. 10 NLT). He’s forgiven all our sins completely for all time (vv. 11-12). The metaphors of withering grass and fading flowers (vv. 15-16) remind us of our mortality and frailty in contrast to God’s eternality and sovereignty ( vv. 17-22).
K. T. Sim
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