God is foremost a god of love, and he wants his creation to draw unto him.
When God created the world, he gave humanity a home filled with perfection. In Genesis 2:9, we read that he planted a garden with every tree that was pleasant to the sight and good for food.
However, God also wanted humanity to love him, so he gave us a choice. Genesis 2:9 also tells us that the tree of life was in the midst of the garden, as was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Oh, if only God had left those last two trees out, then we would still be living in perfection. However, he had a purpose in his deeds. He wanted us to show him that we choose to love him.
Even today he continues to draw us to him.
In our previous article, we looked at the ways in which humanity tests the Father’s love. Today we will look at the second stage in God’s plan to draw us to his side.
Stage Two – Drawing:
Anyone who has small children knows how their eyes light up when they receive a gift. The gift doesn’t have to be big and expensive. It simply has to be a gift.
The giving of gifts draws our children to us, sparking that bond of love that binds us together as a family.
God gave us the magnificent gift of all creation, and that wasn’t enough for humanity to embrace him. Isn’t that like children? If we, as parents, give our children too much, they can become jaded, and soon the gifts become their expected due.
It is that special gift from the heart that tells our children they are loved.
What is nearest God’s heart? John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
God loves us enough to give us his most precious possession simply to draw us to him.
Jesus has now been gone from the earth for two millennia, but that hasn’t changed the power with which he draws his Father’s creation.
1 Peter 1:8 reminds us that although we have not seen him, we love him. He continues by telling us that although we do not now see him, we still believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.
Peter was speaking to those who already knew Christ, but the truth of his words applies to everyone. Even when humanity is stumbling in darkness, we feel his drawing in our deepest being. Sometimes it is the disaster that allows us to slow down and pay attention to his voice. Sometimes it is a heartfelt cry because we are filled with loneliness. Whatever causes us to pay attention to God, those feelings are the beginning of conviction.
Lamentations 3:25-26 is as relevant today as it was when it was written. “The Lord is good to the one who seeks him and hopes in him; to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord is a good thing.”
God loves us and continues to draw us to him, even when we do not know him.
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