I am beloved of God

 There is a lovely verse in Deuteronomy when Moses was blessing the tribes just before his death, which says of Benjamin:

Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,

For he shields him all day long,
And the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.

Benjamin was the youngest of Jacob’s sons, born of Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel who died giving birth to him.  There is no doubt Jacob loved Joseph and Benjamin Rachel’s sons more than the other sons.  When Jacob believed that Joseph was dead due to the trickery of the other brothers, Benjamin became even more precious. 

However this verse speaks not of the beloved of Jacob but the beloved of the Lord, the one the Lord loves.  The truth is each one of us is ‘the beloved of the Lord’.  The Lord adores each one of us.  Each one of us is favoured by God – each one is his favourite.  In itself that does not make any sense!  How can each of us be his favourite? Favourite implies more love for one than another. 

Each of us is loved equally and totally.  Each one of us is at the top of God’s affection.  There is no one who is loved more than you are – so each one of us is his favourite and he treats each one of us like that.  You are his favourite.

Let this wonderful truth sink into your heart and let it change the way you feel about God and the way you feel about yourself.  Those who are God’s favourites cannot be worthless, unloved, rejected.  You are in the very centre of God’s amazing, unconditional love and nothing you do or do not do can change that.  Thank God right now for his wonderful love and meditate on this fact that you are beloved of God.