Apr. 14, 2014
by Bob Farrell
Unconditional
How many unconditional guarantees are there in this world? I mean truly unconditional.
Tires replaced free forever, whether you ever bother to put enough air in them - or you drive them 24-7 over broken shards of glass. Carpet replaced in a home with no roof. A free new cell phone for the one you place in a tub of water each night before retiring to bed.
I think if you read the fine print you’ll find the manufacturer / retailer of said product will take exception to all kinds of consumer abuse before they honor any unconditional guarantees. Unconditional under certain conditions.
Not so with our Heavenly Father. His very name = love.
And that a love that can never be taken from you; has no time limit; requires no performance qualifications on the part of the recipient. Cannot be earned by good behavior - cannot be lost through abusive behavior. Knows no boundaries and can be redeemed from any point in the universe.
That seems an overly generous and humungously huge variety of love, Bob. It ‘tis, reader. Nothing can hold or contain it hugeness.
And within the soul of every human there resides a longing to seek out that love - to know its fulness - to experience its security.
In the heart of every man
There’s a need to question who we are
And what we believe
And the answers that we find
Are simple words for us to say
But hard to receive
You say that God is love - you take Him at His Word
But do you really understand
That God loves you
And made you for the pleasure of knowing you
That God loves you
And made you for the pleasure of knowing you
And showing you
That God loves you
It’s true. The Garden of Eden and the incidence of God’s highest creation - man - is about love alone. He made you to know you, have relationship with you - for His pleasure.
While every person fails
And every man needs love to pick him up
Time after time
When Adam and Eve fell and were cast from the Garden, the barrier of sin rose up between God and man. The means of having relationship with God changed - His love did not. While we were yet sinners God sent his Son to die for us.
This world can use you up
And leave you with a world of care
Where hope used to shine
But God can give you strength when all you’ve done is fail
So say it till you understand - Tell me do you really understand
Time shows us what we thought we knew
And time helps us to know the truth
The sacrificial death of Jesus was God’s provision for tearing down that wall of sin - giving us access to His love. The love that picks us up each time we falter and fall.
It is not cheap love, it came at a great price - but it is free.
And it is unconditional.
(lyrics from “God Loves You” by Bob Farrell and Greg Nelson, recorded by Sheila Walsh, circa 1993)
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