What Does it Mean to be Cherished?

Anchovies. The mere mention of the word brings a reaction to me. I crinkle my nose in disgust and marching through my head are usually the thoughts, “Ewwwww….I don’t like anchovies. Those are gross!” We all have foods we dislike, but do you know what is weird about my distaste for anchovies? I have never, not once, in all my fifty years of being on this earth tasted an anchovy. So where does my reaction come from? I have formed my disgust for anchovies based on the opinions and experiences of others. I have taken their word for it. I have adopted their opinions as my belief system so strongly that I haven’t even tasted an anchovy and still I have strong opinions about them. 

I think sometimes we do the same thing with God. We are long on opinions about Him but short on experiences with Him. I think sometimes we rely on other people’s opinions and experiences with God to form our own picture of what God must be like. Psalm 34:8 (NKJV) says, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” The Passion Translation says, “Drink deeply of the pleasures of this God. Experience for yourself the joyous mercies he gives to all who turn to hide themselves in him.”

I don’t think there is anything wrong with hearing other people’s experiences with God. Reading your Bible, listening to ministers, and sharing inside a small group all help to shape our view of God. However, we need our own experiences with God as well. I think that is what the Psalmist is saying in verse 8. “Experience for yourself the joyous mercies he gives…” Meaning, don’t take my word for it. God is yours to experience as well!

God is a really big God. He is the creator of Heaven and Earth and all the things that occupy space in Heaven and the Earth. If you really take a step back and think about His vastness, it can be overwhelming. God is all knowing and can be at all places all the time. He is not contained by time. He created time and lives outside it. He knows our past and is with us in the present but is also in the future urging us to come meet Him there. God is all around us all the time. 

A God this big must also love big. And He does. Scripture is full of how much He loves us. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” That is big love. However, sometimes I think that we can become so familiar with that verse that we see God loving us a collection of people rather than individually. 

You know when you go to a concert of one of your favorite entertainers or bands. And while they are on stage, they are caught up in the energy of the crowd and the crowd is caught up in the energy of the entertainer. The entertainer says from the stage something along the lines of “Oh! What an amazing crowd! You guys are the best! I love you!” And then you may have a few standing around you (or maybe it’s you) yelling, “we love you too!”  And there is mutual admiration all around. The entertainer is feeling the approval of the crowd and the crowd is appreciative of being entertained. 

However, most mature people understand there is no real love in this exchange. The entertainer does not actually know enough about the people in the crowd to love them. And the crowd had an appreciation for the entertainer, but only knows what the entertainer chooses to show the public. There is no depth of relationship here. The entertainer and the crowd haven’t really experienced true relationship.

I feel like sometimes the exchange between entertainer and crowd is what we see when we read the scripture “For God so loved the world…” We lose the personal aspect of this scripture. The thinking can sometimes look like this. “I am one of many in the world. God came to save the world and since I happen to be in this world He saved me too. He doesn’t really know me, and how can I really get to know such a big God that saved all these people?”

Nothing could be further from the truth. Jeremiah 1:5 (NKJV) says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you:” God is such a personal God. He took great care to create each and everyone of us. Nothing is by accident. He carefully chose everything about us. He chose our hair color, skin color, eye color, and personality. He created us with certain giftings and talents. He knows our sense of humor and our secret dreams. He knew exactly when we would be on this earth, and what would be happening on the earth while we are here. 

I think this kind of demonstration of love is what it means to be cherished. When we use the word cherish it denotes experiencing people. I cherish the memories of my grandmother and I sitting in her sewing room making clothes for my dolls. I, of course, didn’t recognize this as a child, but my grandmother valued spending time with me. She knew I loved dolls and playing with dolls and wanted to sit with me and make doll clothes. My dolls definitely had wardrobes to be envied. During these times of spending time together, my grandmother and I were developing experiences with each other. I wouldn’t have those memories I cherish with her if I had never spent time with her. If we had never interacted with each other, and I was only told about her, I may have an appreciation for who she was as a person. However, I would not have personal memories I cherish of her like I do now. 

So how do I know that God cherishes me? Yes, there are scriptures in the Bible that tell me that He loves me. There have been Sunday school teachers and many pastors and ministers that have pointed out God’s love for me. But how do I really know He loves me? I have experienced Him. I have sat with God and allowed Him to speak to me about who I am to Him. I have chosen to trust Him in difficult situations and experienced His faithfulness. I have experienced His blessings when I have been faithful to be obedient to Him and when I haven’t deserved it. I cherish my experiences with God, and I know He cherishes His experiences with me. 

This again is why it is so important that we make room in our day for God to speak to us personally. We will only get so far on other people’s opinions and beliefs about God. He doesn’t just know about us. He knows us inside and out. He so longs for us to experience Him. He wants us to understand that He loves and cherishes us. We are His children. We are the Bride of Christ. We are made in His image. We are not complete without Him.

Remember friend, God is always for us, never against us. If you do not know where to begin in experiencing God, start by getting quiet before Him. Tell Him you want to experience Him. Thank Him for His love and all He has done for you. Ask Him to tell you how He feels about you. Be prepared to be overwhelmed by His love for you. He wants to meet with you and show you what it is to be cherished by Him. 

For more on Cherish click the links below for other blog posts.

Cherish and Encourage One Another by Lisa Granger https://lisamarcelina.net/cherish-and-encourage-one-another/

Cherish by Amy Cobb https://www.tayloredintent.com/blog/cherish

Cherish by Jessica Weaver. http://www.rootedunrooted.com/blog/cherish

Cherish the Next Smallest Thing by Dianne Vielhuber. https://simplewordsoffaith.com/2022/02/01/cherish-the-next-smallest-thing/