The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
Psalm 145:9
Teacher marking. Image by Gurmit Singh @Flickr and made available under this Creative Commons licence.
As a teacher, marking work is a significant part of my job. Particularly when I’m marking the work of my GCSE and A Level students, I try my hardest to be fair and even handed in the marks I give. This still doesn’t stop pupils complaining when they get their work back. How come he got an A1 and I only got a B2, they might say? It’s not fair! You just don’t like me, do you, sir?! When a student adopts that attitude it’s pointless arguing; you just have to explain why their work got the mark it did, and help them to improve next time. They still think, though, that the mark you’ve given them is based on how much you like them!
It’s surprising how many people think this way about God. God wouldn’t like me, they say, because I don’t go to church. I never pray, so I’m sure God isn’t bothered with me. Some people even take misfortunes as a sign that God doesn’t like them.
Today’s verse, though, is explicit. God is good to all. He has compassion on all he has made. We might worry about whether we’re a good Christian or not. Non-Christians might pin bad luck in their life as evidence that God doesn’t like them. The Psalmist is in no doubt at all, however, that God’s love stretches to every person who lives, who has lived, and who will live, on this planet. He loves us all and sent Jesus to save us all. Whether we accept that love, and how we respond to it, is up to us. We can embrace God’s love and strive to love him in return, or we can turn our back on him.
God’s love is universal. Some may not recognise that love, some might reject it, but it is there for everyone.
Give thanks today that we have a loving and compassionate God who loves us all, n matter who we are or what we have done. And rejoice that we do not have to earn God’s love because it is freely given.