O Love That Will Not Me Go

Why do we give thanks to the Lord always? Are there not enough troubles and problems in our midst? But why does the Scripture consistently say that we must not fail to give thanks to the Lord in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Are we sure that we have enough reasons to give thanks to Him? Or, are we deceiving ourselves by being piously grateful in appearance and yet confused and uncertain about His love?

We shall be eternally thankful for the Lord because He loved us first. His unfailing and eternal love was demonstrated on the cross in Calvary where His begotten Son Jesus Christ died to take away the sin of the world and give a new life anyone who believes in Him. Apostle Paul pertinently described the love of God in Romans Chapter 5.

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5 NKJV)

Again, Paul says the same thing in Thessalonians Chapter 2.

“But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 NKJV)

Who are we that the Lord of glory laid down His life when we were still sinners? We have nothing to contribute and earn His grace. We were totally lost and dead in our sins and transgressions. We were the enemies of God who followed the spirit of age, the devil.

But in due time God sent His begotten Son Jesus Christ to release us from the prison of bondage and slavery and guide into the kingdom of light, so whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life forever (John 3:16).

What is it to give thanks to God in practice? It’s loving one another. Not all saints are lovable. But we shall love one another not because they are lovable but because they are our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Apostle John blatantly and bluntly says so, or we are liars.

“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” (1 John 4:20-21 NKJV)

"O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.  by George Mattheson