Thursday, November 5, 2026
Jeremiah 31:3 (ESV)
the LORD appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
Reflection
Most of us live as if God’s love were a reward we are still trying to earn. We wake up, take stock of how we did yesterday, and quietly calculate whether we have given Him a reason to be pleased with us. On good days we feel close to Him. On bad days we hide.
But listen to what God says here: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Notice what is missing. There is no condition attached. There is no “because you finally got your act together.” His love did not begin when you started behaving. It did not start at your best moment, and it will not end at your worst one. It is everlasting, which means it was there before you were born and will still be there when every earthly thing has passed away.
Then comes the second part: “Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.” Your nearness to God is not the result of your climbing toward Him. You are here because He pulled you in. You did not find Him by your wisdom or earn your way by your strength. You are weak, forgetful, and prone to wander, and He loved you anyway and moved toward you anyway.
This is the heart of the gospel. In Christ, the love of God is not a wage but a gift, secured at the cross and never in doubt. Today, you do not have to prove anything. You only have to rest in the love that was already yours before you opened your eyes.
Father, when I am tempted to earn what You have freely given, remind me that I am held by an everlasting love. Draw me close again today. Amen.
Sources & attribution
Devotional from Morning Selah.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.