Devotion by Dean DeVries

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.

I John 3:1

G.K. Chesterton, the great British thinker and writer of a century ago, penned these words, “the furious love of God.” This paradox sought to summarize God’s love for us. It doesn’t sit well to see “furious” and “love” put together!

Yet, we may imagine God’s love as a strong wind hitting us. I remember my college days in Chicago, the “Windy City.” In January, I walked beside a building in the gentle wind. Then, I would reach the corner, move forward, away from the building, and get blasted by the north wind! It would startle me and almost knock me over! God’s love is a force that pursues us and can overwhelm us.

Brennan Manning is his book, The Furious Longing of God, wrote, “If you took the love of all the best mothers and fathers who have lived in the course of human history, all their goodness, kindness, patience, fidelity, wisdom, tenderness, strength, and love and united all those qualities in a single person, that person’s love would only be a faint shadow of the furious love and mercy in the heart of God the Father addressed to you and me at this moment.”

God’s love for each of us is deep, dear, and eternal. In his book, Manning wrote, “God loves us the way we are, and not as we should be.” This brings a relief to my heart knowing that, even though I have not become all that God wants me to be, God’s love fills me and longs for me. I believe God’s greatest desire is to have an eternal, daily relationship with each one of us.

A contemporary Christian song writer, Cory Asbury, wrote a song entitled “Reckless Love”:

“Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine

I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, you give yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never ending, reckless love of God.”