“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”
Ephesians 3:17-18 (NIV)
If we could grasp the depth, length and width of the love Christ has for us, it would benefit us in every aspect of our lives. I’ve noticed that when someone cannot grasp the love God has for them, they drift into a mindset of self condemnation, depression and other unhealthy ways of thinking. God wants us to know how much He loves us, or there wouldn’t be over 300 scripture verses throughout the bible, saying so.
The main message that the apostle Paul was teaching the Ephesians, was to stay rooted in the love of God through Christ, which is longer, wider, higher, and deeper than they could ever think or imagine.
David is a great example of a Bible character who stayed rooted in knowing God loves him, despite his flaws and shortcomings. David struggled and fell into disobedience at times, but he always rose back up again. Because he was rooted so securely in God’s love, he was able to trust and rely on His mercy, over and over again.
Since David was called “a man after God’s own heart,” it’s worth learning why he received that title. He surely didn’t earn it through a life of steadfast obedience, but he did have steadfast trust in the abundant mercy of a loving God, throughout his life. God wants us to trust Him as David did.
God loves us as a father, and He will discipline or prune those He loves. One time during David’s reign as King, he neglected to follow God’s instructions, and a prophet named Gad came to tell him the possible consequences. David was then asked to choose his consequence:
He was given a choice of either three years of famine, three days of a plague or three months of fleeing from human enemies while being pursued.
David answered, “I am greatly distressed. But let us fall into the hand of God, whose mercy is great, rather than into human hands.”
(2 Samuel 24:14)
David chose the three days of plague, rather than being at the mercy of a human enemy. He placed himself and his people into the hands of God, hoping and praying that He would show them mercy by shortening those days, which He did. The plague ended after only one day, instead of three. The story teaches us that even when we mess up, trusting in God’s mercy can change everything.
I know this is a strange story, in David being given such a choice, but there is a lesson in the story for all believers. David was being pruned by God, which is also a part of our Christian life, as once described by Jesus. He told us that every good gardener prunes branches in his garden, in order to bring new growth and produce more fruit. We are all branches abiding in Jesus, the vine. If He is pruning us, it means we are bearing fruit because we belong to Him. He is not punishing us, but pruning us, to make us more fruitful. (John 15:2)
Because of God’s love for us, He is always looking for ways to make us better, and His pruning cuts away whatever is necessary to make us more fruitful. He is working all things together in our lives for our ultimate good, so we can relax and trust Him.
We may not always grasp the benefit of the pruning process that is happening, but we can trust that the love and mercy of God is deeper and greater than we could ever think or imagine. We learn from David, to always place ourselves into the hands of our loving, heavenly Father, whose mercy is abundant.
To know the love that God has for us, as David knew it, is to know that we will always fare better, by placing ourselves, our loved ones and everything else, into the hands of God, who is a fountain of infinite mercy.
Lord, help us to grasp your love for us, in the midst of whatever pruning we may be going through, as we trust that all will be well, by placing ourselves into your loving hands of mercy. Amen
