An Infinite Stretch
Monday August 19, 2024
I'm sure you've done it too.
You know, taken a rubber band and stretched it and stretched it and stretched it – more and more and more – cringing at the possibility of it snapping like crazy between your fingers - but wanting to see just how far it will go before it reaches its breaking point.
And that's the thing: rubber bands have their limit, and when stretched beyond that limit, they snap and break. And that's the end of the rubber band. And probably your fingers too!
These days, I've been listening to a song from Sovereign Grace, called Jesus, There's No One Like You. It begins:
"There is no song we could sing
To honor the weight of Your glory.
There are no words we could speak
To capture the depth of Your beauty..."
How true! There is no song good enough or high enough to honor God's glory: that is, the "weight" of His importance and His majesty. There are no words we could speak that would ever be good enough or high enough to capture the depth of His beauty.
But it was the first phrase of the second verse that led to this reflection:
"There is no sinner beyond the infinite stretch of Your mercy."
How beautiful!
Now, we are no longer talking about the stretch of a simple rubber band. We're considering the "stretch" of God's mercy: that is, His lovingkindness and His compassion – His free deliverance from a judgment and a punishment we rightly deserve. And stretching is just what God's mercy does: it stretches and stretches and stretches – more and more and more. But!... God's mercy will never ever ever snap and break. Because it is infinite: it has no beginning and it has no end, it goes on forever. And so it can not snap and break. It can only stretch, and continue to stretch to infinity.
In Scripture, besides the truth that God's mercy is infinite, we discover that it is "great" and "rich", "plenteous" and "abundant", "tender" and "gracious", "constant" and "faithful".
And so, no sinner on earth, no matter how much or how often or how deeply he or she has sinned, can ever out-sin God's mercy. Because God's great and abundant, tender and constant mercy stretches to infinity, which is ever so much further than any sinner could ever sin.
As Romans 5:20 says: “Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more.”
And as Psalm 100:5 states: "For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations."
Dear friend: are you feeling your sin and the guilt of your sin weighing heavily upon you these days? Do you think and feel that you have gone wrong just one time too many? Are you convinced that there is no hope of grace and forgiveness left for you?
Well, you are wrong!
Remember? "Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more."
Remember? "… the Lord is good; His mercy and lovingkindness are everlasting..."
Remember? "There is no sinner beyond the infinite stretch of Your mercy."
Not even you!
A rubber band has its stretching limit. But God's mercy doesn't, and never will. Not for anyone. And not for you.
Before you leave, do give the song that inspired this reflection a listen: you truly will not be disappointed – it's beautiful!
Jesus, There's No One Like You –
here at this link:
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