How I long...

 

" Then I said, ‘How I long to make you My sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations!’ I thought you would call Me ‘Father’ and never turn away from following Me. " - Jeremiah 3:19

We usually read this verse as an indictment against Israel, but today something else caught my attention: the longing of God's heart.
"How I long..."
This is the voice of God. The Almighty, who lacks nothing, expresses this longing. He does not say, "I will judge you." He says, "I would love to make you My children."
He longs not just for our obedience, but for our love. He wants to hear us call Him "Father." He wants us not to turn away from Him.
What pain Israel caused His heart when they turned away! Not just breaking a law, but rejecting love.
And what a comfort this is for me: when I sin, when I drift away, when I grow cold, He does not say, "Let her go." He says, "How I wish you would return."
God desires to be our Father, and His love should plant such deep love within us that we would never want to turn away from Him. It would be foolish to walk away from such a loving Father. When the All-Loving Father is right beside you, simply longing to be with you, turning away becomes unthinkable.
Therefore, I will not be afraid to draw near. I will not think that He is busy or that He has grown tired of me. I will draw near, I will call out, "My Father," and I will not turn away from Him.

From my diary