God is Watching Over With Unfailing Love and Full Redemption

I have probably read Psalm 130 a hundred times or more, and even have done studies on it, but only this week I “saw” something I had not perceived before. The author of this psalm mentions two characteristics of our God, His unfailing love and His full redemption. I began meditating on the two words with their infinite meaning… unfailing and full. It’s hard for us as human beings to imagine such greatness enveloped in these two simple words.

Can you even imagine something being “unfailing?” That word means that nothing or no one could ever make the object of that fail. In this case the object is the love of God. Nothing or nobody could ever make His love fail! What food for deep thought, and what a rich promise we as His children have. I am reminded of Romans 8 where we read the declaration that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. God’s love never, ever fails… it is eternal and complete, lacking nothing. No matter our circumstances, the love of God will never fail!

When I think of something being full, I think that there is nothing that can be added to it to complete it or change it. The Lord of heaven offers us full redemption, not a partial redemption, or a broken redemption, but a full one. Redemption has the idea of buying back something that once belonged to us, but was lost, but could be bought back. Mankind was God’s by creation, but man lost that position due to his own sin. Something had to be done to buy back the soul of mankind. The death of Jesus Christ accomplished this feat by making it possible for all our sins to be forgiven and forgotten, and allowing us to experience even here on earth the full redemption He paid for on the cross. This redemption is full enough not only to save our souls, but to give us the Holy Spirit to abide with us, and to sanctify us for eternity with Jesus!

I don’t know the author of this little story, but I have heard it since I was a child, and it never ceases to impress me with the truth of full redemption.

A young boy living back in the early pioneer days of America, fashioned out of wood a small boat. He spent many an hour making his little boat water worthy and beautiful. He was very proud of his little boat, loving to sail it in the gutter when there was a rain in his small town. 

One day he had put his little boat into the gutter to sail on the rapidly running water from a heavy rain, when it slipped from his grasp and was literally pummeled very quickly out of sight. He ran breathlessly fast to catch up with the little boat, but all to no avail. It slipped entirely away from his vision. He fell on the ground, devastated that he had lost his little boat, which he had made with such love.

Several months passed and one day he, with his mother, was walking down the main street of the small town, looking in all the shop windows. He stopped suddenly in front of one of the stores and cried out to his mother, “Mother, there is my boat in the window!”. And sure enough it was the boat he had lovingly crafted. They entered the store and spoke with the owner, telling him of the origin of the boat and asking for it back. The owner, though not evil, was not about to lose a sale by relinquishing the boat. He refused, but said that the boy was welcome to buy the boat if he wanted it.

Since the boy did not have the money in hand, and times were hard, he asked the owner to please save the boat for him, and when he had saved enough money, he would come and recover his little boat. The owner agreed to that proposal. 

The boy went home and began running errands for neighbors, cutting grass, emptying garbage and all sorts of other chores to earn a few pennies here and there. At long last he had acquired enough money to buy back his little boat.

Imagine his joy when he paid for the boat he had made and received it back into his own hands. He squeezed the little boat to his chest and whispered, “Little boat, I made you, and now I have bought you back, so you are TWICE MINE.” 

Jesus Christ made us as His creations, and with His death and resurrection, He bought us back to Himself, so we are TWICE HIS, having been fully redeemed.

Thank You, Holy Father, for watching over us to provide unfailing love and full redemption. We are grateful for the great worth of all You do for Your children!

By Mary Fawcett