The NIV 365 Day Devotional

The Pursuit

8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
  slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
  nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
  or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
  so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
  so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:8–12

After the Hero was betrayed by his Beloved, he would have been justified if he had destroyed humans and washed his hands of the whole creation. If he had chosen to do that, he would have been acting in line with a foundational truth of the universe: The cost of sin is death. The watching angels wouldn’t have been surprised—the God of justice simply would have been acting justly. But that’s not who the Hero is.

Read.

After his people, his Beloved, betrayed him, God did something that astounded even the angels: He lovingly continued to pursue them. He later spoke this to his wayward people: “How can I give you up . . . All my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger . . . For I am God, and not a man—the Holy One among you” (Hosea 11:8–9).

Think.

God’s good heart is the core of the story. Although God could have given up on humanity, he didn’t—because that’s not who he is. God is good. And his goodness overrides all evil. Light always prevails over darkness.

If God had given up, the universe would never have known many aspects of God’s character. The angels might have heard that he is love, but they wouldn’t have known how deep his love goes. They would have never seen God’s deep mercy, because he can’t extend mercy unless some evil has been committed and mercy is needed. Our betrayal of him in the garden introduced the universe to his mercy.

Live.

The God who wants to be known and chosen wouldn’t have been known or chosen if he had just walked away. So he continued to reveal his heart. For many, many years the Hero patiently fought for the heart of the Beloved, revealing more of his character in hopes of catching her eye. Sometimes he battled. Sometimes he wooed. Always he relentlessly pursued. And as he did, the beings in both the heavenly and earthly realms saw his great heart.

Read how God is described in Psalm 103:8–12. What are some aspects of who God is that would not have been seen if he had just chosen to walk away from his creation, from us?

Taken from Read. Think. Live.