Deuteronomy 31:6
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (NIV)
We love to quote this passage. The Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. We know God will be faithful to His promise. The bigger question for us is whether we will leave Him or forsake Him. Moses did. David did. Peter also had times when he forsook the Lord. The word ‘forsake’ simply means to loosen our grip. There are so many times when we loosen our grip on Him participating in things that hurt His heart.
Acknowledging how often we forsake the Lord in light of His promise to never forsake us is powerful. When we are faithless, He is faithful. He does not force us to hold on to Him, but He strives to keep us in His hold so that we might not fall. In the end, we can choose to reject God as Judas did, but it is not easy. God fights to hold on to us until the point it is clear He is enabling our bad behavior.
Today’s passage reminds us of the grace of God. Even when we fail, He will not fail us. Even when we have loosened our grip on Him, He holds us tighter. Where would we be if God loosened His hold on our hearts as we loosen our grip on Him?
This should drive fear right out of our minds. He will never abandon us unless we totally reject Him. He runs after us even in the darkness of our sin. And if He loves us at our worst, how confident we should be that His love for us will not wain.
If we do not let this truth permeate, we will live fearful of His abandonment. But if this truth permeates, knowing He will not discard us even at our worst, we will never reject Him. This all-surpassing love will draw us to Him. It will always keep us coming back to Him.
God will never get sick of you. He will never be disgusted or ashamed of you. He will never walk away from you. You can walk away from Him and He will pursue You, but no matter what you do or have done, He will remain.
Prayer: Thank you God for this promise to never leave me nor forsake me. Let it run through my veins so that in my sin, I will run to You, not away from You. Amen.
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