Isaiah 2:22-Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

 
Have you ever thought about what really constitutes unconditional love?  Or how you verify you are being loved unconditionally, or know that you love someone else unconditionally?

Throughout the O.T., God tested the children of Israel through various seasons of life.  Some seasons were marked by receiving “just enough”, whereas some seasons in their journey with God were marked by abundant prosperity.  Yet in each season the Israelites revealed their lack of faith, in the “scarce” seasons with complaining, and in the prosperous seasons, where they forgot God and clung to their pride and idolatry…
The Lord was teaching them how to trust and love Himself.  That their identity did not come from what the Lord could do for them, but more in reveling in His love and mercy.  To rescue and preserve them to “be a light” for other nations, revealing the glory of God through them.  It was the seasons of of having just enough, and the seasons of having more than enough that revealed that what God did was never enough…
Much like being married, no wife wants their husband only to love and adore them when they are physically attractive.  Or a husband only feeling respected when he gets everything his bride wants!  Security and unconditional love is more assuring while we are sick, weak, and received despite our failures…(Romans 5:6)
The indictment of Judah (children of Israel) in this passage was that they rejected God as their identity as God prospered them.  Revealing that they always wanted to be like the other nations, and really didn’t care to be a light to them.  Ask yourself the penetrating question, “do you want things from God, instead of more of God, so you can be more regarded by people?”  Because God desires our unconditional love, and not to be used for what he can do for us, so we can be highly esteemed by others…
In His Love, LD