When someone says, ‘Make yourself at home,’ it means you’re welcome and accepted. And that’s what the Message version of the Bible is getting at when Jesus says, ‘Make yourselves at home in my love.’ You never have been and never will be loved by anyone as much as God loves you. The reason you have such a hard time grasping that concept is that you have nothing to compare His love to. Nothing could make God love you more than He does right now, and nothing could make Him love you less. The great irony is that we spend our lives trying to earn His love, when it can only be received by faith. John says: ‘What marvellous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it - we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to’ (1 John 3:1-2 MSG). You may have grown up with parents who withheld their love, or weren’t capable of expressing it. God doesn’t do that. Throughout Scripture He keeps saying, ‘I love you. I love you. I love you!’ C. S. Lewis wrote: ‘God created us to be the objects of His love! Sometimes our actions make us unlovely, but we’re never unloved. And because God loves us - we have value. And nobody can take that value away. God’s love revealed at Calvary fastens itself onto flawed creatures like us, and for reasons none of us can ever quite figure out, makes us precious and valued beyond calculation. This is love beyond reason. And this is the love with which God loves us.’

What now?

Make yourself at home in God’s love. That could mean taking a break from work, and relaxing on the sofa with your Bible and a journal. Or it could mean getting outside, into some forest or nature spot you enjoy. Go there with Him.