November 3, 2026 -- Proverbs 16:6 -- The unstoppable love of God

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.
Proverbs 16:6 ESV
 
Steadfast love, as I’ve often noted, is one translation of the Hebrew word hēsēd. There are about a hundred words required to adequately translate it. These words include mercy, lovingkindness, friendship, love, covenant love and so on. Why mention it? It is the unstoppable, unquenchable love of God that ensures our salvation. More than this, His faithfulness, despite our faithless wayward nature, is shocking. These words point to the work of Jesus Christ.
 
Iniquity is the inclination of our heart to be out of alignment. Like car tires that are out of alignment pulling a car off course, so is the sinfulness of our heart. Without the strong intervention of God, we’d be going here and there off course into our old patterns of sin. Already in the Old Testament, the blood sacrifices of oxen and lambs pointed to the one, perfect sacrifice of Jesus. Only His precious blood could wash away the stain of sin that touched every part of us.
 
 What is the response of the faithful follower of Jesus? It is the fear of the LORD. Fear of treating His blood with contempt. Fear of offending our Majestic King on high. Fear of returning to our own foolish ways—since our hearts are prone to all kinds of evil. Yes. But the fear of the LORD is also pure enduring forever (Psalm 19:9). It is a holiness that tethers us in love that joyfully responds to the steadfast love and faithfulness of the LORD.
 
Christians do not read their bibles, pray, and spend time with other Christians and then feel they’ve checked a box so can go on with the important parts of their lives. Such a loving, reverent, delightful fear of the LORD steers the course of one’s life back to God the Father Who in love chose us from before the foundation of the world to be His. Such holy fear drives us to honour and adore Jesus Christ, He is our life’s chief delight so that former sins and addictions, and hang-ups pale in comparison to the wondrous joy of serving Him. Such fear, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit (according to Isaiah 11:2-3a), is the guardrail of our life so that we don’t spin off course, but turning aside from every evil and all temptation, we live to the honour and praise of our Glorious God Who has rescued us from this present evil age.
 
O God my Father, thank You for Your steadfast love and the faithfulness You have shown us in Jesus Christ. Spirit of the Living God thank You for the gift of the fear of the LORD. Triune God, in view of the precious treasure of this salvation, and even sweeter to the soul, our union in Jesus, motivate us to greater acts of love and obedience. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/wc7bO69Xuu4?si=QTgTSLNlZRorsT61
 

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