March 1, 2014

Love expressed through chastening.

Deuteronomy 8:2-5

Now you shall remember the whole way the Lord your God led you in the desert, to deal harshly with you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He dealt harshly with you and weakened you with hunger, and fed you with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word proceeding from the mouth of God man shall live. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your feet become callused these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.

Encouraging Words...

God took His chosen people, the Israelites, through a 40 year sojourn in the desert before He brought them into the promised land. He loved these people. He had a covenant with them and always honored it. And when they turned their back on Him for false Gods He loved them even more and took them through a chastening process. A process of refinement. It is in the midst of these processes that our true heart is revealed. As God's children under the new covenant ushered in by our Lord Jesus Christ, we too are on a sojourn to the promised land. We too will be chastened and refined so that our true heart will be revealed to us. This refinement is all at the hands of God and covered by His love and protection. He loves us that much. Glory be to God!