You Are So Loved

Do you know how loved you are??? I haven't yet realized how loved I am but I sometimes catch glimpses of it. There is such a beautiful picture of Christ's love for us in Genesis 29. Jacob has just fled the scene after robbing his brother Esau of the patriarchal blessing given by their father Isaac. He runs to his uncle Laban's home for refuge when he suddenly finds his path crossing the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on, Rachel. He is staggered by her beauty. He promises Laban that he will work for 7 years just to pay the bride price for his beloved so he can marry her. "So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her." Being a shepherd was not easy work. It often involved long days and late nights caring for the flock. Jacob was often out of doors. He constantly had to be on the watch for wolves and bears that threatened his flock. When the female sheep became pregnant, he had to make sure they had the things they needed to give birth safely. He was never off duty. The well-being of that flock of sheep was his entire life focus for 7 years. But it says that this time seemed like only a few days to him. Why? Because he was so excited to marry Rachel. I'm sure he had frustrating days and was frequently exhausted but when he thought about why he was doing this, he really couldn't have cared less about his physical exhaustion. The thought of Rachel kept him going through it all. Jesus told people on more than one occasion that all of scripture was focused on Him. He is the center of all revelation from God. This story is meant to show you how much you are loved. When Jesus came to earth, he came with all of our human weaknesses and issues. The 33 years were anything but a breeze for him. He had to constantly make war against temptation. Real temptation. The thought of returning to the unbroken, intimate fellowship of the Trinity must have seemed SO much more appealing on a lot of days. But you were His reason to keep going. When EVERYTHING was falling apart, He remembered "the joy that was set before Him..." What was He going to have after this ordeal? He was going to have you. You would be His. You are so loved. You have no idea how horrible those 33 years were. Constant rejection. Isolation. Anger. Hostility. Mockery. Unresponsiveness. He doesn't tell you about any of this, though, because He doesn't want you to be pressured by a false motivation into being "a good person". He wants you to rest. He just wants you. The sufferings of Jesus were not God saying "Look what I'm doing for you! You'd better do something REALLY great for me!" There is just love. There is just grace poured out for you. There is just acceptance. And you can't take advantage of it because it doesn't stop! You literally can't take advantage of someone who keeps giving after you've stopped asking. You have no idea the lengths that God went to to claim you for Himself. Back breaking labor. Not to guilt you into better behavior but just to see you rest. That's it.