Fresh as the Morning, as sure as the Sunrise

23 Jan 2015 by Stewart Chew-

 

When I was a child, I caught malaria. I recalled that I had a very high fever. And very strangely, I would be asking for the blankets to cover me for one moment as I was shivering and then pulling them off as quickly as I had them on because I was hot and sweltering! This phenomenon is caused by the attack of the malarial parasite on our red blood cells, causing them to break up. The variation of the number of the erythrocytes in the person with malaria causes the highs and lows of the body temperature of a victim. It was a very scary and nightmarish experience; I felt so sick and helpless that I continuously cried for someone to come to me. And I would always see my caring mother there beside me whenever I woke up. She would gently put her hand on my forehead and her soothing and familiar voice comforted me.

 

 

As children, we depended and needed our parents so much, and they gave us this love without us even asking for it. Similarly as adults, although we have our independence, our intrinsic feeling of wanting to be loved still remains. I believe that we now get this lasting love from our Heavenly Father. In the Book of Lamentations of the Bible, we read this in chapter 3:22–23:

 

“The Lord’s unfailing love and mercy still continues, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise..”

 

This is an incredible verse that talks about the love of God with so much meaning in a matter of just 17 words! It expresses the parental love of God for all His creation so succinctly. It talks about:

 

 

THE LORD’S UNFAILING LOVE AND MERCY

When something is unfailing, it means that it always happens without fail; it is always reliable, always dependable, and something that we can be absolutely sure of.

What follows the word unfailing is His love. Thus we can be 100 percent sure that we receive His ever present and everlasting love for us like the same love we experienced from our parents. Our parents do not owe us their love, nor are they obligated to love us, but they naturally do so because we are their flesh and blood. The good Lord is our Heavenly Creator and He has always loved everyone unconditionally simply because He made us. He is loving and also merciful. To be merciful means to be full of protection, care, and concern. In a sentence, this verse means that we, His beloved creation, can always believe and live our daily lives confidently depending on the truth of His eternal love, care, and protection.

 

 

STILL CONTINUES

This means that He has previously loved us (i.e. from the day we are formed in our mother’s womb) and we now have the assurance that His Love is still continuing all through our (adult) lives. It is ongoing.

 

FRESH AS THE MORNING

What is the love of God for us? How important is this love to us? The exhilarating experience as we awake and step out into the misty morning to take a few deep breaths of the fresh cool air – that’s about the closest comparison of the nature of God’s continuing love for us, fresh as the early morning.

 

 

AS SURE AS THE SUNRISE

How can we be sure that it does continue throughout our life? What is more certain throughout history than the daily rising of the sun? The world around us functions and plans as usual everyday – taking for granted that the sun will be certain to rise and always assuming that we will definitely be having another new day.

 

 

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ABOUT Author: Stewart Chew is a retired senior lecturer in School of Medical Sciences, Curtin University in Perth, Australia