Luke 15
When we hear the gospel of grace and believe it for the first time, the world seems bright and shiny. We are optimistic about life and sure of God’s love for us. It is hard to imagine that life would not just naturally progress from bad to good, sinner to saint. Of course there would be little hiccups along the way, but life’s road should be mostly smooth all the way to heaven now, right?
Sin and suffering make you doubt God’s love.
The smooth road turns into a 10-car pileup on an icy road. The sin we left behind is back, and it brought friends! Like a dog to its vomit, we are right back to anger, lust, resentment, addiction, grumbling, greed, laziness, or pride. And the pain of suffering compounds the doubt as we wonder, Where is God when I’m hurting?
God’s love is better than our love.
But God is not like us! He is good, and His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 136). He has chosen us for His name’s sake, and Jesus died to secure God’s love and bring us into His family. “You Keep Coming After Me” is a song for despair. When our hearts feel low—abandoned even—because of painful disappointment, when we wander from God’s commands and wonder if He is done with us, we should sing again and again:
“You find me in the depths / You take me to the heights / Just to tell me that Your love will never ever, ever change / You’re with me in the wind / You’re faithful in the fire / You keep coming after me.”
God never gives up on His children.
We are like Gomer who was unfaithful to Hosea, and yet God instructed Hosea, “Go and get her, and never give up until Gomer is yours.” We are Israel, abused and in exile, to whom the Lord said, “Fear not, for I am with you... I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you.” We are Peter after denying the Savior, fearfully coming to Him, not to be condemned, but restored. We are the straying sheep for whom the Good Shepherd lays down His life to never lose. We are children of God. He will never give up on or lose interest in us. So with this assurance, we sing,
“So keep on moving / Keep on speaking / Keep on turning my eyes / To see what You see / I am listening / I am learning / I am Yours.”
By Jon Dansby
