Redemption

"Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: "Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; bit you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born. And when I passed you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!'. I made you thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare. When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread my wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine," says the Lord God. "Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists, and chain on your neck. And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate pastry of fine flower, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and succeeded to royalty. Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you," says the Lord God." -Ezekiel 16:1-14.

I'm going to skim past the next bunch of verses... they're all really great, but I'm running out of time before work and you probably don't want to read a lot more. It's a lot to take in. Here we go.

..."But you trusted in your beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it (15)... Behold, I stretched out My hand against you, diminished your allotment, and gave you up to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior (27)... neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done (48)... Samaria did not commit half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abomination more than they, and have justified your sisters by all the abominations which you have done (51)..."

BUT: "Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you (60)."

I know it was a big chunk of verses to read, but that's one of my favorite chapters, because it outlines perfectly the relationship we have with God. He sees us as sinners (before we were yet saved, Jesus died for us), extends His grace and mercy, and gives us the world. We, being human and very short-sighted, take His gifts to us and throw it to the world, abandoning our Saviour in search of a faux life, committing spiritual adultery with the world and its goodies. God reels us back in, sometimes with drastic measures, and we are, once again, redeemed. God doesn't fulfill His end of the deal based on whether we're good or whether we fulfill ours; God already made the promise to wash us clean when we first came to Him, and He keeps His word. There will always be redemption for us. The thing we have to watch for is taking advantage of His love for us. "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." -Galations 5:13.

I love the fact that we don't have to be perfect to be loved by God. He's loved us from the first time He saw us, and we're told that He sees us before we are born. I know that I won't ever be able to earn that love, and lately that's been making me a little depressed, because I know that I haven't been trying. But reading sections like these make me remember that it's not what I do that makes my God love me. And once I'm saved, I don't have to work to keep Him loving me. His grace stays consistent. After realizing this, my view has changed back to serving Him because I love Him and want to bless Him, not because I want to be loved and blessed by Him. It's a fine line, and I'm so happy that I've gotten that perspective back. Thank you, Pastor Brian and Pastor Nick at SLO Calvary for teaching on these issues! And thank you, God, for opening up my heart again.

God bless!