As I cleaned up my dog’s mess for what feels like the 78th time in two weeks I had a sobering thought. “How many times has God done this for me?” Then I thought about my kids. Sure, we love our dog but not in the same way that I love my kids.
When I became a father, I had this realization that my wife and I had made this little person. There was now a new person that existed on the Earth. And we were directly responsible for her. This was, to quote Marty McFly, heavy. This little person was half me and half my wife, she carried our image. I never thought I would be able to love something the way I loved my daughter. Then we had our second child, another girl. Leading up to her birth I did not know how I could love them both so much, but I did. What my wife and I both found was that our hearts grew and we had this new expanded capacity to love—and love unconditionally. This new love was like nothing else. It was then that I got a glimpse of God’s love for us.
But God’s love is a perfect love. If you are a parent, you know that while you always love your children you may not always like your children. In Psalm 23:5 David claims that, “[GOD] prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies…my cup overflows.” This is the part of Psalm 23 always stuck with me. In ancient near eastern culture, if you were a guest in someone’s home you knew you were welcome to stay if your host kept refilling your drink. If you were overstaying your welcome, the host could cut you off and hope you get the hint.
God is not like that. Through his perfect love, we as believers have a seat at God’s table, and our cup overflows. God’s unconditional love never grows tired of the mistakes we make or cleaning up our messes. Therefore, David can continue in verse 6 with, “[WE] shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Our Father does not just love us, but He likes us too! He wants to spend time with us! I hope you’re letting him fill your cup.