In the book of Deuteronomy, God told His people that if they were faithful to Him, many blessings would come their way. That promise was juxtaposed against the many curses that would come upon them if they walked in disobedience and broke the covenant. Reading all of those curses can get to be a little depressing, especially when we consider that all of us have failed and all of us have flaws in our life. Let’s face it, we have all fallen short and, more often than we care to admit, we still fall short. In his letter to the Romans, Paul said:

“There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10)

Peter reminded us how difficult it is for any one to measure up to God’s standards:

“If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:18)

It might be easy to focus upon the vulnerability of the sinner in this passage, but look at what Peter said about the righteous — they are “scarcely saved.” That’s a sobering thought, especially when you consider the Father’s uncompromising standards of holiness compared to how difficult it is for us to live up to those standards. It is, in fact, impossible for us to live up to His standards if we have only our own strengths to depend upon. That is why the following passage is so powerful. Paul wrote:

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

This explains why God went to such lengths to warn us of the consequences of our actions, were we abandon the covenant and go our own way — its because He loves us. He doesn’t wish to be separated from us and, so, He continually warns us of what will happen if we turn away from Him. And though we have all gone our own way at some point in our lives, it is His unfailing love that beckons to us to return. Knowing that He loves us so deeply is the greatest blessing that any of us could ever hope for. So then, let us walk in faithfulness to His Word as an expression  of the fact that we love Him because He first loved us. 

Shalom.