Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. Genesis 30:20
Leah felt like an extra. Unloved. Unappreciated. If only she could give Jacob sons, then he would love her. One son born but still no love. Two sons, then three. Unloved. Finally Leah gives birth to her sixth son, Zebulun. Now, after all of these sons, surely Leah will receive the love of Jacob.
How often do people try to earn God’s love by doing good things? “If I can be good enough,” we reason, “surely God will love me.” Sometimes we try it with great religious fervor. Sometimes we think God can be bought by giving a bigger check. “Perhaps if I do more good things than other people, God will love me.”
Sometimes it is the reverse that we say is true. “Because I have not been good, God will not love me.” We picture God more like Santa Claus, keeping a list and checking it twice, than the gracious and merciful God described in the Bible.
Let’s be clear: God loves you with such a great love that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for your sins. Now God invites you to trust in that love and find forgiveness and a restored relationship with Him.
You have to decide to keep trying (without satisfaction) to earn that love and forgiveness with your own good works or trust the love proven by God in Jesus. Try (in vain) to earn love; receive the love already freely provided by Jesus. Come (with no success) on your terms or come on His terms through Jesus.
It’s your choice.