Real Love

Real Love

“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love…” Jeremiah31:3

When Jeremiah, known as “the weeping prophet” was writing, it was a time of turbulence, nations fighting for supremacy, a time of great apostasy, and severe spiritual decline. But Jeremiah had a mission from God. He had to speak about sin, judgment, and repentance. But his message was not without hope – he also spoke to the people about restoration and future glory. He told them about a new covenant between them and God and how the people would be changed: “I will put my law in their minds and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God and they will be my people…….And they shall teach each other….saying – Know the Lord; for they shall all know me from the smallest to the greatest….I will forgive their sins and will remember them no more.” (Ch.31:33-34)

It shouldn’t be too difficult to imagine Jeremiah’s joy. He could now stop weeping. Also his listeners who had strayed so far from God could experience relief and a new burst of hope and peace with God. Why was God so kind and merciful? God Himself gives the answer: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” – an infinite love, one that could never die or grow cold. God has always, always gone to extremes to show mankind His unfathomable love. He made His promises to the people of Israel and Judah through Jeremiah, and in the fullness of time He showed His love for all mankind through Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son, the Messiah, the Savior! And Jesus emphasized the same message of everlasting love for all.

Jeremiah’s message to the people was effective and some people were brought back into a close fellowship with God. We are now given a peerless Messenger. There is no comparison between Jesus and Jeremiah. How effective is Jesus’s message to us? Have we opened our hearts and allowed God’s Messenger to achieve the purpose for which He came? – That of forgiving us and bringing us back into a close relationship with God? Al Jones