God With Us: For Love
Reading: Hosea 2:8 & 11:1-8*
Song: So Long, Moses by Andrew Peterson*
The first promise was in Genesis, hot on the heels of the first betrayal: a woman’s seed and a bruised heel, but the serpent would be crushed. The lying mouth would one day be silenced.
They come again throughout the years, these promises whispering of redemption. Abraham learns all humanity will be blessed through his descendents. Moses speaks of another prophet, says the people will listen.
And though we hold onto the promises, we waver. Time and again, for generations and eras, we push back. We wander off in a desert to find our own way.
“Give us a king!”
He shoulders the rejection, gives us what we want. We simply do not understand, it’s all for love.
When the kings and people betray Him again, He lets them walk.
But how can I give you up? How can I hand you over? My heart recoils at the thought; my compassion is warm and tender.
And he hedges up the paths so we can’t run away. He longs to bring us home. “She didn’t know, she didn’t know it was Me all along. She didn’t know I provided for her.”
We sometimes miss the crimson cord running throughout the stories. Different cultures, different customs, larger-than-life characters, all distract us from the point.
From creation’s conception to its final breath, the furious love of God is the motion and meaning of history. His plan for rescue runs through the ages, bits and pieces spoken across the centuries.
We learn He’ll suffer, that we’ll all turn our back. That He will feel the heaviness of all our wrongs and sicknesses. He will restore all things.
And finally, at the fullness of time, He comes. Suddenly, all the promises make sense, and history hinges around the birth of a baby who would save us from the dark. For love.
For love.
Let us not forget this: over and above all, this is for love. This birth we celebrate is more than the miracle of God poured into skin, more than angels and impossible pregnancies.
This is how God chooses to reach us: by becoming with us. And this is all for love.
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*Each day this week, I’ll share a devotion to help you slow down and experience the story in a new way. I’ve included Scripture readings and songs to enrich the experience. I recommend reading the Scriptures, listening to the songs, and then reading the devotion.
*These devotions are inspired partly by Andrew Peterson’s gorgeous album, Behold the Lamb of God: the True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ. You would love it in your Christmas music collection <3
