Why I like God: He always chooses for me

Danny Fourie

We love because he first loved us.  1 John 4:19

Someone explained how the book by Allen Carr, Stop smoking, helped him to quit smoking. The ex-smoker told how thankful he is that Carr wrote the book. Not only was he freed from the prison in which the addiction to nicotine kept him, but also Carr in fact saved his life here on earth. After he stopped smoking, he met Carr and now he has a photograph of him and Carr on his desk where they triumphantly hold up Carr’s book and shake hands – lifelong friends.

Carr has therefore played a major role in the ex-smoker's life. What God has done for us, he said, is of greater value compared to what Carr meant to him. God saved his eternal life – not only through a Book God has left us in which he declared his love, but also by sending Jesus Christ from heaven, to be humiliated and be crucified as a criminal. The physical pain of Jesus was terrible, but the mental pain that he had endured on the cross without his father, was much worse. All on our behalf.

Besides Carr's photograph on his desk, said the ex-smoker, he has in front of him against the wall a much larger painting of Jesus on the cross. It fans his love for God.

Jesus on the cross shows God’s unfathomable love for us – the moment in which he proved that he truly loves us. God does not only keep to sweet talk and promises. He kept his word. He restored our broken relationship with him; he kept his promise.

Jesus on the cross reminds me every day of that love. This love I cannot leave unanswered.

Prayer: Thank you Lord that you have chosen me, proved your love for me on the cross, kept your word and again made me your lifelong friend. Amen.