Is not Israel still my son, my darling child?” says the lord. “I often have to punish him, but I still love him. That’s why I long for him and surely will have mercy on him. (Jeremiah 31:20 NLT)
Have you ever felt like God punishes you a little bit more than others or a little more than you like? That correction is because of His great love that He has for His people. Sometimes we can get frustrated however when God is pruning but we have to understand that He is doing it for our good. He knows the paths that we are taking will lead us to destruction and not only is He trying to protect us from that but He is also trying to keep us focused on Him so that we don't continue down the wrong path. The beautiful thing about God is that even as He is chastising us He also already has a plan to redeem and restore us. With all the bad that was happening to Israel and Judah, God already had a plan for the long run to prosper them and not do them harm. Even in the midst of their wrong doing God still says, are they not still My children? God does not disown in our sin but He will do everything to get us to turn back to Him. Like a loving parent He will give us some tough love at times so that we realize our ways are not beneficial to us and we will return to Him and acknowledge how we need Him and His great love for us. It gets better...when we turn back to Him He not only accepts up with open arms but He also says “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people"(Jeremiah 31:33, NLT). Now that's love...no greater love than the Father.
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