He loves FIRST and forsakes LAST....

*Yesterday I was digging and did a search on the word 'forsaken' in the Bible.  These are some of the passages that it found and I noticed a theme I'd like to share.  Read the passages below and see if you see it too:

Judges 10:13

But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.

1 Samuel 12:10

They cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’

1 Kings 11:33

I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.


2 Chronicles 24:20

Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the LORD’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’”

Ezekiel 8:12

He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

Ezekiel 20:8

“‘But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt."

Mark 15:34

And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).  (See the blogpost "Got Spring")

Hebrews 13:5

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Revelation 2:4

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.

Psalm 9:10
Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

*God promises to never leave or forsake the believer.  He loves us first, and forsaking is always a last resort caused by a total rejection of Him.

Matthew 10:33 (NASB)
But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.


1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.



Luke 15:10

In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”



2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.


*He loves FIRST and forsakes LAST.