Loved
- drbuddyyoung
- Sep 30
- 2 min read
The 365 Journey
Outline Week 38
Malachi 1:2
“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob.
Expression of Love
“I have loved you,” says the LORD.
When you love someone you tell them. You can't hold back the expressions of your affection for them. Sometimes though, when someone says that they love you their words are frivolous and fictitious, what they say doesn't jive with what they feel. This is not the way of the Lord. If He says that He loves you, He does. His words ring true.
Enigma of Love
But you say, “How have you loved us?”
The Lord's love for His people is a stated fact, but there are times when we doubt His love. Life happens and we question His love. We had felt it before, but it seems now that it has faded away. You don't see any evidence of His love. You can't reconcile what you see with what He has said. You wonder if He has ever loved you and if so, if He still loves you.
Evidence of Love
“Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob.
God wants us to know that He loves us. So, He sets forth clear examples of how He has loved us. Here He reminds Israel of their ancestry. God's choice of Jacob over Esau, was because of His love for them. When God changed Jacob's name to Israel, it was because of His love for them. When He provided for them during a famine by bringing them to Egypt, it was because of His love for them. When He lead them safely through the wilderness, it was because of His love for them. When He sent forth His son Jesus, a descendant of Jacob, to live a perfect life and die for our sins, it was because of His love for us.
He loves you no matter whether you feel His love or not. The fact that He has loved us supersedes all our feelings. We are loved regardless!
For Further Study:
Comments