God’s Tender Love

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading titled God's Tender Love was written by Lisa M. Samra. A 2017 video of a dad comforting his two-month-old son while the baby received his routine vaccinations garnered international attention for the way it captured a dad's love for his child. After the nurse finished administering the vaccinations, the dad tenderly held his son close to his cheek, and the boy stopped sobbing within seconds.

There's almost nothing more reassuring than the tender care of a loving parent. In Scripture, there are many beautiful descriptions of God as a loving parent, images that invoke God's deep love for his children. Old Testament prophet Hosea was given a message to deliver to the Israelites living in the northern kingdom during the time of the divided kingdom. He called them to return to a relationship with God. Hosea reminded the Israelites of God's love for them as he pictured God as a gentle father. When Israel was a child, I loved him, and to them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek. This same reassuring promise of God's loving care is true for us. Whether we seek his tender care after a season where we've rejected his love or because of pain and suffering in our lives, he calls us his children, and his comforting arms are open to receive us. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Hosea chapter 11, verses one through four. When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the bales, and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms. But they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love.

To them, I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you that you call us your child and provide tender care when we run to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Tony Collier, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.