No Surprises
The other day I got an email from my mobile phone network to inform me of some changes they were making to the package I am on. Rather than get unlimited data I am now going to be restricted to 1GB of data a month, unless I pay several pounds more for the new, now more expensive unlimited package. Not a pleasant surprise as it leaves me with the dilemma of trying to work out if I will need more than 1GB of data a month or not.
And it reminded me that with God there are no surprises like that. The terms and conditions don’t change. Extra charges don’t get added unexpectedly. He won’t suddenly move the goal posts. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” Hebrews 13:8. He is unchanging. He won’t suddenly stop loving you. He won’t demand more of you all of a sudden one day. You won’t get a message out of the blue saying you owe more.God’s love is unfailing. It is unending. It isn’t dependent on anything you do or don’t do. His love for us is, fortunately, unconditional. We don’t deserve it, but He pours out grace on us anyway. We don’t merit it, but he lavishes us with mercy because of what Jesus did on the cross. It’s not about anything we could ever do, but what has been done for us. And because we know that our God is unchanging, we know that will never change. He will never stop loving us.
One of my favourite passages in the Bible is found in Romans 8:31-39. It is a great reminder of God’s unchanging, unending love for us.
“If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honour at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39)
With God there will never be any nasty surprises. His love for us will never change. Nothing will ever separate us from Jesus’ love. But it is surprising that He chooses to love sinners like us at all. And that is news worth sharing!
(yeah, that is my phone, if you buy my books I can upgrade it to something fancier)