Proverbs 3:3. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
If you only learn one Hebrew word in your life it should be this one: Hesed.
He (short vowel sound) – sed. And when you pronounce the ‘H’ you have to work up a bit of phlegm from the back of your throat.
In Proverbs 3:3 the Hebrew word hesed is translated as the English words steadfast love. Sometimes hesed is translated as “mercy,” “kindness.” or just “love.” Hesed is such an important word because it describes not just love, but God’s unique divine love. God alone has hesed. Hesed is God’s covenant love for his people. His promised love. His loyal love. His steadfast, never changing love. A love that can and will never go away. Because God is in a covenant with us he will always hesed us. God’s hesed is as unchanging as God himself. Unlike our love, hesed never falters, never fails, and never forsakes.
Hesed was proven on the cross of Christ and it has been poured into the heart of every believer in Christ. Jesus on the cross is God’s hesed on display for us, and Jesus in our hearts is God’s hesed alive in us. When you received Christ you entered into a covenant with God, the New Covenant. You now have God’s divine covenant love. Unconditional, fully committed, unbreakable love. In Christ, God cannot not love you. In Christ, God cannot love you less and he cannot love you more. This means that to live is Christ is to live from within a divine, all-powerful love that will never falter, never fail, and never forsake you.
Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.
You: Do you ever doubt God’s love for you?
You in Christ: If you are in Christ, then you are alive in God’s hesed.How might your mindset change if you really believed in God’s unconditional love for you?
Christ in you: How can you reveal Christ’s hesed to others today? Is your love for others loyal? Faithful? Steadfast?
Pray: Father, your love for me is guaranteed in Christ. Keep your love in my heart and in my mind today, especially when life seems to say that you have forsaken me. Amen.
To Live is Christ 