Be Encouraged - All are loved Equally
It is incredibly encouraging to read that God included real-life, flesh and blood, sinful people
in His word, the Bible. Many people assume that it is just full of the stories of great heroes – like Samson – one of the last Judges of Israel before the institution of a monarchy, like Gideon who led an army that by God’s power overcame the Midianites, like David who defended God’s name and slayed the giant Philistine, Goliath and like Abraham who led the people of Israel out of captivity in Egypt.
Great heroes indeed… but still ordinary, sinful, people just the same as us - you and me.
Samson was weak towards Delilah and dishonoured the vow he had made to God and paid the price for it with his own life.
Gideon tried every possible way of ‘wriggling’ out of God’s plan for him to lead an army out to battle, before reluctantly obeying God.
David committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of the commander of his army, and then committed murder to cover his own wrongdoing.
Abraham lied about his wife to protect his own life, instead of telling the truth and trusting God for his protection… the list goes on and on.
Why are they in the Bible? So that we can learn from their failures. (1 Corinthians 10:11)
Sin always has consequences. But God has much to teach us from the examples of His people who failed, but also about His love for us all – not just for the ‘heroes’ of the bible but people like us – you and me.
And the way God loves us is the same way that we should love one another – no matter who they are. All people – heroes or otherwise, are loved by God and so we should also love them even when they are not the sort of people that we would naturally be friends with, or be attracted to. God’s love working through us can overrule all of that and enable us to share His love with all.
And the greatest example of God’s love is found in His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who came to this world and showed each one of us God’s amazing love, as He paid the price for our sin – yours and mine when He died on the cross. Then, He was buried and rose again on the third day. And now, He alone, can forgive us, set us free from sin and place our feet on the pathway bound for heaven where we will be loved for all eternity.
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