Day 54 – Lovingkindness (Part 3)
Christ takes our guilt and shame so that we can be reconciled to God. He enters death so that we can receive life.
Day 54 – Lovingkindness (Part 3)
Psalm 23:6 — “…and lovingkindness will follow me…”
There’s one more thing about God’s mercy that we can’t overlook. If God’s lovingkindness pursues us, what does He ultimately intend to do with us?
I’m glad you asked! Let’s talk about restoration.
Scripture is filled with people who wandered away and discovered that God’s love was still calling them. The prodigal son is the most familiar picture of this. The son deliberately left his father’s house, wasted what he had and found himself living in a pig sty.
When he came to his senses and returned home, his father saw him “while he was still a long way off” and ran to meet him (Luke 15:20).
The father didn’t pretend rebellion never happened. He welcomed him home. That is the heart of mercy—love that pursues us, confronts us and then restores us. And the Bible doesn’t end the story with a father running down a road.
It leads us to a cross.
Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Read that again—while we were yet sinners.
God didn’t wait until we became worthy. He acted while we were still running in the wrong direction. That’s why the cross is the fullest expression of God’s lovingkindness. God doesn’t just talk about love. He does something about the sin that separates us from Him.
Christ takes our guilt and shame so that we can be reconciled to God. He enters death so that we can receive life. That’s why David can say with such confidence that goodness and lovingkindness “will follow me”.
David’s confidence isn’t in David. It’s in the Shepherd.
God’s mercy isn’t exhausted by our failures and weaknesses.
It follows.
It pursues.
It calls us home.
And ultimately, it leads us to Christ.
Do you ever wonder whether God could really love someone like you? Look at the cross. God’s love didn’t wait for you to became worthy; it was demonstrated while you were still a sinner. That makes grace astonishing.
The Shepherd knows exactly who you are, knows exactly where you have wandered and still pursues you with His steadfast love.
