I took a walk last night after some study in Hosea. My mind felt stagnant, so I meditated on a few texts concerning God's love. Before long His love in a very small measure was open before me. The thought of being secure in the unsearchable love of Christ (Ephesians 3:19) is an overwhelming thought.
Somewhere along the way, I felt a sense of recoil at the progressing situation. The whole atmosphere about me was emotionally charged. I sensed my emotion was getting the best of me. And I confess I fear few things as much as letting emotion drive my doctrine. Emotionally-driven doctrine has lead to spiritual suicide in countless professing Christians. How crucial it is that we think right thoughts about Him. So I put the brakes on the whole ordeal in order to think through the situation.
My thoughts channeled toward an illustration my friend David once shared. He had a job testing oxygen tanks. An oxygen tank putting out an insufficient amount of oxygen can be fatal to those who depend on the supply. So the job is important. Due to normal use, the testing tool needed to be calibrated daily. Each morning he ran 100% pure oxygen through his tester. Once this pure oxygen began to flow, he reset the reader to "100%". So in essence he had to constantly redirect his tester to reality. That was the first thought that came to mind.
The second thought was the Scriptural reference to my previous thought - Romans 12:1-2. Dear friend, this fallen world affects our mind more than we realize. Paul draws the only logical conclusion from 11 chapters of demonstrated mercy - calibrate your mind to reality! Don't live in the dream world! Take God's revelation, which His Word, and as you are reading it train your mind to TRUE concerning everything you find.
That naturally brought up the question of reality. What is reality as pertains to the love of God? We are surrounded. The blood of Christ did not initiate God's love toward us. Dear believer, realize God's love for you did not begin at the cross. I will say it again - The death of Christ did not convince God you were lovable! The death of Christ vindicated a love which was already present. There has never been a time when you weren't loved by God! We have been inescapably trapped by the unconquerable (Romans 8:38-39) reigning King of Glory who is bent on us beholding His beauty (John 17:24). This is unimaginable!
The other thing which came home to me was the sheer impossibility of meditating on God's love to the point that I move beyond it. Dear believer, your and my imagination will never, never, never exceed reality when it comes to God's love toward us!
Faith, dear friend, faith - In hope against hope we must believe the reality of God's love toward us. Have you fallen into a grievous sin? The dear Lord Jesus died for that, and no sin you can commit changed anything in regard to His affection. Is your heart cold toward Him? His love hasn't changed toward you. Are you feeling like you can't go on? He will go on with you. And He will not rest until all that makes you mourn will be abolished (Revelation 21:3-4)!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!
