Apple of His Eye

“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” Psalm 17:8

I think we can never know how much God loves us, not until we reach heaven, our real home. I see how God prepared a special place for Adam and Eve. How beautiful the garden must have been! Out of all the fragrant and delicious fruits in the garden, the forbidden one caught Eve's eye. God prepared an equally beautiful place for us here on earth. Just like Adam and Eve, we continue to make wrong choices. Out of all the amazing things we have to do, we also choose the wrong ones. Instead of praying first thing in the morning, we open Facebook. Instead of reading the Bible, we watch a telenovela. Instead of encouraging someone, we gossip. Instead of forgiving or asking for forgiveness, we harden our hearts.

But does God condemn us? No. He loves us more. He comes nearer. He does not love us because we are perfect. He loves us because we are His sons and daughters. Peter probably committed the greatest sin. He denied Jesus 3 times and left Him at a time when Jesus was so alone. And Peter didn't have the chance to say, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Did God give up on Peter? In Mark 16:7, after the women found Jesus' tomb empty, an angel instructed them, "Go tell His disciples AND PETER, He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see Him just as He told you." Out of all the disciples, Peter was singled out for this message. Whenever we sin, whenever we believe we fall short of what we believe God wants us to do or be, we should remember this. God never condemns. He calls us closer.

In Zechariah 2:8, we read, "He that touches you, touches the apple of His eye." "Apple" is translated from the Hebrew for "little man" or "pupil" of the eye. Consider how protected the pupil is- hemmed in by our eyelids, our eyelashes, and our eyebrows. So is God the Father's love for us. We are protected, hedged, guarded, looked after. Thank you Lord for Your amazing, inconceivable love!