Unfailing Love

His unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

Psalm 103:11-12

TIM LAY OUT on a hill, gazing up at the stars of the night. He had been reading his Bible and came upon this passage about how great God’s love is. He wondered how the person of David’s day would have perceived that, so he went out on the hill. In time, he realized how high above him the heavens were. Of course, he knew from science that the closest stars were more than four light-years away. The people of David’s day didn’t have such calculations. But what did it matter? To David and the people of his day, the stars appeared far away, more distant than even the sun itself.

Thinking about the analogy to God’s love, Tim remembered a book he had read his daughter about a little rabbit who asked his father if he loved him as far as his little arms could reach. The father held out his own arms, much farther, saying, “But I love you this much.” He remembered the connection with the cross as Jesus opened his arms on the cross and took our sins.

If Tim were to say to God, “Do you love me to the top of my head?”

“No,” God would answer, “to the top of the mountains!”

If Tim asked, “But if I’m at the top there?”

God would say then, “As high as the clouds.” Eventually, Tim would get to the stars. Seeing it that way made him realize that God’s love for him and all others is greater than he could ever imagine, and it is a love that will never fail.