LOVE WITHOUT LIMITS

Exodus 20:6 “But I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.”

The word “lavish” really got my attention in this passage. So, I looked it up. “to lavish” actually means “to expend or give in great amounts or without limit.” Knowing that, I see that “lavish” is a pretty cool word. I mean, I can think of lots of things that I would like to have lavished upon me. Money, compliments, promotions, and of course ice cream(maybe for you it’s cookies).

But when you look at the word in the context of God’s promise to his people, it is pretty powerful. He promises to “expend or give in great amounts or without limit” his love to us. Now, we know that God loves us. John 3:16 tells us that. We know that Christ’s work on the cross demonstrates powerful love towards us (Romans 5:8). But in this passage, lavish is a verb and it is an action that occurs, according to its definition, without limits. You could say it happens over and over and over again.

Now here’s the deal. He says, “I lavish my love on those who love me and obey my commandments.” Does that mean he only loves us when we do right? Of course not. Read Romans 5:8 again. But he continually pours his love upon those who love him.

God clearly defines in Exodus 20 that he is a jealous god. Jealousy is an emotion that many of us can probably understand. No one likes to be ignored or taken for granted. We too are more apt to express love and affection to those who love us. Remember, God wants, more than anything, our love and devotion.

I can relate this to my youngest son. He is three years old and is challenged in communicating. We work with him daily to help him express himself. A few weeks ago, for the first time, he said to me, “I love you”. It was the sweetest “I love you” ever. In that moment I would have given him anything he wanted over and over again. I wanted to kiss him and hug him. I wanted to freeze that moment forever. Why? Because I am made in God’s image. I too lavish love on those who love me. It has helped me to understand what God wants for me. That for each of us, it is his desire to pour his love into our lives because he wants our love also.

Part of our love is demonstrated in our desire to follow his word and honor his commands. Jesus said, “if you love me, keep my words…”

There is one other blessing in this promise. It is a promise of generational blessing. To those who love and obey him, he will lavish his love upon us for a thousand generations. What an amazing idea. My obedience and love will bring blessing to my children and grandchildren. God is so good that his love and mercy truly endures forever.