“For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great Name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people.” I Samuel 12:22
We may have had the unfortunate experience of being forsaken or abandoned either by an acquaintance, a friend, a loved one or even a family member. We may even have been the one to forsake or abandon another. What an aching feeling this is, something that continues to gnaw at us in our memories. Hopefully, we may also know the great relief that comes when we are reconciled to another and allow forgiveness to heal our wounds.
While such experiences are natural to life in a fallen world, we can take great comfort in the promise from I Samuel that our Lord will never forsake us. The verse reminds us that He has put His own Name upon us in Holy Baptism and that He is pleased to make us His Children. Our relationship with God is something He initiated. Because it was His idea to create us and make us His Own through faith, we know that He is committed to His union with us.
We may think back to a time we were forsaken or forsook another, but do we realize how often we have forsaken our great God through our willful acts of sin? Every day, time and time again, when we choose our own will over His, we reject Him and the Name He placed upon us. Yet, our God does not hold a grudge or seek vengeance. He is always ready and willing to receive us back and restore us to the relationship He created. He is committed to the unity that He has fostered in us and it pleases Him to make us His own.
Know that you are loved!
Peace and Joy!
Pastor Kilian