Enduring Love

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalms 100:5 NIV

I had a friend in college named Ed. Ed was slightly older than I and had served in the Navy. All the time I had known Ed, his girlfriend was Karen, but he had a heart tattoo with the name Maria on his arm. One day, I asked him the tale behind the ink. True or not, I don't know, but the story started with a riotous night of shore leave in a foreign port; the following day, he had the tattoo and a wife, you guessed it, named Maria. They filed for an annulment, Ed boarded the ship, and they never saw each other again.

Where Ed and Maria's love was at best fleeting, other than the tattoo, there was no evidence it ever happened; God's love for us is genuine and enduring. It began the day he lovingly formed Adam and Eve from the dirt and breathed life into them. It doesn't stop there but continues with each new life knit together in a mother's womb until the end of all time.

God holds us in his love and gives us the potential to know and show steadfast love. We must continually desire what God's love means to us individually and to all His creation. Using what we learn, we are to put that love into action, demonstrating it in our words and deeds. Also, we are to teach it to future generations, so they may know God's inherent love and grow in it.

God, thank you for your enduring love. We confess we often falter and stumble; we fail in recognizing and responding to your love. Forgive us; we pray, and help us live more intentionally, patiently, and perfectly. May we be messengers to all creation today and to future generations. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Blessings,

Pastor Tim