You’ve heard of self-defining moments, I’m sure. A self-defining moment occurs when something happens that determines your identity from that instant forward. Because of some event or incident, whatever it may be, you will never be the same again.
I had such a moment each time my children were born. I can still remember the first time I saw each of them. It was the most remarkable experience I have ever had. I fell in love with them instantly. I felt a physical sensation from the top of my head to the souls of my feet. I was overcome with joy. And I was now somebody I had never been before. I was a father, to be sure, but I was not just a father. I was Jonathan’s father. I was Catherine’s father. Each of these children came to have a place in my heart that would belong to no other.
Has my love for them ever failed? Not in intention, it hasn’t, but I have to confess that at times I have been preoccupied with myself, and I have failed to show them the love I have for them.
But now, consider God. He has for each of us -- for you, for me -- a place in his heart that belongs to no other. Will his love for you ever fail? No. It cannot happen. It will not happen. Our own parents may fail us at times, but God never will. He is like the mother who never forgets.