Ephesians 2:4

But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us  (Ephesians 2:4 AMP) 

We are all aware – believer and non-believer alike – that God is love.  It is one of the universally and politically correct attributes that our modern culture will actually tolerate regarding God.  Yet even in their acceptance of this fact, they have no clue as to the depth and quality of the love that is only found in God.  At best, many relegate the fact that “God is love,” to a the notion that He is like a cute little puppy, or giggling baby, or any other created item that conjures up for us that feeling of warm and fuzzy we so often associate with the term “love.” 

We couldn’t miss the mark more when we keep God in that box.  It was King Solomon who penned a description of love that more adequately describes God:

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame (Song of Solomon 8:6 NIV).

God is this kind of love – the kind that burns like a blazing fire with jealousy over His creation.  He is a love that tore down the walls of death to bring us back up out of the grave into which Adam and Eve had fallen, along with all of mankind.  God is love that allows us to have our own free will and thereby choose whether we will love Him back or not. 

Paul is stressing in this verse that the “love” that is God is rich in mercy, wonderful, and intense.  It is not a feeling of warm and fuzzy or lustful desire; it is a heart-felt decision to give us all of who He is, regardless of the cost, but only if we want Him.  This was what He told the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt and stood at the crossroads of the Promised Land.  He explained what life would be like with Him and what it would be like without Him and then He very soberly gave them the option:

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!  You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NLT).

God is love, but a love that is different than what we could ever conceive or comprehend.  It is our choice as to whether we even begin the journey to know Him and this merciful, wonderful, intense love that is God.

Today, I will make a conscious choice to know the love which is God by loving God and not this world.

You can also check out Gennarino's devotion on Ephesians 2:4.