June 3

Your God delights in you. He may take great joy in every other person on the planet but that does not lessen in any way the incomparable delight He has in you. His love for you in no way reduces the greatness of His love for others. This is a difficult concept for the finite mind to grasp. Exclusivity is part of what we expect in meaningful relationships.

The idea of finding the right one with whom to spend a lifetime means all other candidates must be weeded out. As much as our morals have been compromised and as much as our attitude toward relationships has been modified from “one man with one woman for one lifetime” we still basically adhere to the idea of exclusivity in romantic relationships.

Although the Lord sees us as individuals, it is obvious He also sees those of us who profess faith in Him as one body, one entity. He sees us as ‘the church,’ and it is the church for which He died. He told Peter the ‘body of Christ’ was established upon the unshakable truth he uttered, “We believe and are sure that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” He said the gates of hell could not prevail against that bit of insight.

He also said that the Lord, “takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation and adorn the wretched with victory.” Into the ugliness of our sin, Jesus imparts the beauty of His salvation to those who are humble enough to receive it. He also assures those who stare wretchedly at the gaping jaws of devouring sin that they shall have victory. When we own that beauty, that victory, His delight in us is complete.