My wife worked outside in the yard all day. As she was cleaning up, she turned on the water spigot at the side of the house and felt a sharp pain on her arm. “I think I’ve been stung.” Sure enough!
I went to the side of the house and found a nest of yellow jackets all in a tizzy. It seems my wife accidentally squirted the nest with a bit of water.
The people of Israel complained. Their problems, they said, were because God didn’t love them. Imagine the sting of rebuke when the prophet Malachi uttered these opening words from God: Jacob I have loved; but Esau I have hated (Malachi 1:2, 3). OUCH!
Of all the nations in the history of the earth, God chose Jacob’s descendants alone as His earthly people. He chose Israel, not because they were mighty or great or lovable, but just because He did (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). It’s what we call in our modern lingo, grace. God’s love is – and always has been – by grace alone. He loves because He is love (1 John 4:8).
His choice of loving Jacob (and his descendants) should have been enough for the Jewish people; but to add to the stinging rebuke He reminded them that He hated Esau.
God the Father shows His love for the Church, His heavenly people, through the death of Jesus.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Why need not be insecure and doubt a God who says that He loves us. The next time you wonder if God loves you, remember that Jesus died for you.
Where Living Begins 