1/3/2021 - Some Things Never Change - God's Love For You!

2020 has taken a lot from us. Suddenly, we realized how quickly things can change. Some have lost freedoms, jobs, family interaction and even personal relationships. You need to be reminded that some things never change. For example, God's love for you never comes to an end. And yet, many don't live in this love. Instead they continue loving that which can so easily be taken away and are therefore discouraged.  So why would we anyone ignore God's love? I’ll tell you why. Because we are very adept and misplacing our affections in this world. The pursuit of “hook ups” has become normative. For many, social media is little more than a love affair with attention. What’s fueling this? People trying desperately to have these questions answered: Am I lovable? Will someone find me attractive? What will cure my loneliness? "If I can just find the answer to that then I’ll be ok." There’s a story in the Old Testament that illustrates this well. It has as much drama as any "reality show" today. A man named Jacob falls in love with a beautiful woman named Rachel. The Bible describes her as being beautiful in both form and face. In other words, she was very attractive. Jacob falls hard for her. He asks her father Laban for her hand in marriage. He agrees but only after working for him for seven years. But Jacob is so smitten he says, "No problem, she’s worth every minute of the wait." Finally, the day comes and Jacob ends up getting a taste of his own medicine. This plot twist is one for the ages. You see Rachel's father duped Jacob' in the exact same way Jacob cheated his own father Isaac. Jacob loved the place of prominence. He loved a woman for her attractiveness. Misplaced love caused Jacob a lot of heartache in life. It also disrupted the lives of those around him. His life is a testimony to the difference between misplaced love lost and true love found.