Devotion 1

“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you.”  – Deuteronomy 7:6-8a

Israel was a small nation. They were easily forgotten and not very strong. They didn’t have the best resources, the biggest army, or the most people. They weren’t the coolest people group around, and they didn’t have all the friends.

Yet, they were chosen by God to be a treasured possession. 

Why? Because God loved them. 

He was keeping a promise that He made long ago.

You may feel a lot like Israel. You may feel like you’re nothing special. You may not be the strongest, funniest, or most popular. You may feel like you don’t have much to catch God’s eye. The thing is, that’s true of all of us. We haven’t done anything to deserve God’s love. In fact, we’ve done everything to deserve punishment from Him! We disobey Him over and over.

Yet, God sent Jesus to save us. Why? Because God loves us. In Jesus, God was keeping a promise that He made long ago. He promised that He would bless the world and forgive the sins of His people. That’s what He did through Jesus!

Some things to think about . . . 

• Do you ever feel like you have to work really hard for God to love you? The truth is that He already does. We live a life because God loves us, not so that He will love us.
• God loved Israel enough to make them a treasured possession. He loves you enough to save you from your sins. What are some things God is calling you to do in response to that love?

Devotion 2

Take a few minutes to think of five things that God has done for you in the past year. Think of ways that God has spoken to you, blessed you, provided for you, or saved you. Grab a journal or a note-taking app and jot down a few thoughts about what God has done for you.

This week we talked about how God called Israel into a relationship, not because of anything they had done, but because He loved them. It can be easy for us to think that God provides for us because we do things for Him, but the truth is that we can do nothing to deserve God’s love. Even though we did nothing to earn it, God really does love us!

Before you finish your devotion time, thank God for all He has done for you.

Devotion 3

This week we’ve been talking about our special relationship with God. Because Jesus has forgiven us on the cross, He makes a way for us to have a relationship with God. Think about that for a second: you know the Creator of the universe!

Read 1 John 3:1: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

Read it again, slower this time.

Isn’t that an amazing thing?! God loved us enough not only to forgive us, but also to bring us into His family as children. God doesn’t bring us back into a relationship with Him to make us work off everything we’ve done wrong. He welcomes us back as sons and daughters!

Thank God for your relationship with Him today. Thank Him for loving you so much more than you ever deserved.