Daily Devotional

When my youngest son, Alan, was a toddler, he loved to ask 'Why' questions. We’re riding in the car, “Dad, why does the wind blow? Dad, why do I have to be the youngest? Dad, why does Javier Baez strike out so much? [his favorite Cubs player]

When he was a toddler, I could give truthful answers that didn’t have to be fully-explained. But as he got older, one ‘Why question’ led to the next ‘Why question’ and the next… Until I had no more answers to give, and I simply said, “Because God loves us.”

Then he asked, “Dad, why does God love us?’

That simple question caused me to stop and not answer too quickly. I wanted to make sure the next words out of my mouth were true, and were at a level he could understand.

I mean, how would you answer that question?

A few Sundays ago Pastor Kenton sang the song “Jesus Loves Me” during his sermon. I thought he did a great job, though he did receive some playful criticism. But the words to that song that I had sung in Sunday School since I was a little boy pierced my soul in a fresh way. “Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so.” But that doesn’t really answer the question ‘Why does God love us?’

Think about this for a minute. The Creator of our universe, who set the stars in place, who made that beautiful sunset and formed that gorgeous cloud formation, who knows the end from the beginning, and spoke the world into existence - this same God sees us, knows us, and loves us. And you can make that personal…He sees me, He knows me, He loves me.

Sometimes people think “With all the terrible things happening on this planet, why would God love me?” That’s another great ‘Why question’. We don’t really know anything more than what the Bible says. “How great a love the Father has bestowed on us.” How amazing is that?

The Bible says that before we breathed our first breath, God knew everything about us (Psalm 139:15–16). He knows everything about us, yet He invites us to be His children. How great is that?

God came to earth as a man - lived, died and rose to life again - to demonstrate the extent of His great love for you.

Yet with all the verses in Scripture proclaiming God’s love for us, there’s still no simple answer to my son’s question.

So here’s what I said:
“God love us because He made us”
“Why?”
“To bring Him glory as we love Him”
Why?”
“Because He loves us”
And we see how circular the explanation can become.

But maybe the statement “God loves me” doesn’t need a lot of explanation, maybe it’s simply something to ponder, meditate on, and find comfort in.

Then I wrapped my arms around my little guy and held him as his father because I love him so much. And perhaps this is the best explanation of the Father’s love, my love for my own son as I held him close. Yet, how much more does my heavenly Father love me?

Then I said to him, “I don’t know why God loves us, bud…He just does.”

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.