God delights in his people

The first reading from last Sunday keeps ringing in my head, from 
Isaiah 62:1-5, because it spoke so prominently about our new identity as God's children, whom he rejoices over:

Zion’s New Name
62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
3 You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah,[a]
and your land Beulah[b];
for the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.
5 As a young man marries a young woman,
so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.

Footnotes:
Isaiah 62:4 Hephzibah means my delight is in her.
Isaiah 62:4 Beulah means married.

In it our some very powerful eternal truths that apply to our lives today. We are given a new identity as God's children when we accept and pursue Jesus with our lives. Martin Luther uses the phrase " with my body, my soul and all that is mine" in his prayers, and this absolutely rings true for us to pursue God with all that we have. This wreckless abandon will surely be rewarded, as we too can be given a new name, according to the new people of God we become, having been washed by the water of the word, and through God's regenerating us. "Transformed by the renewing of our minds" even.

God rejoices over us all the time, even in the midst of our failures and sin. It was a that precise place in time that Christ Jesus died for us, so that we could then be washed clean and made into these new people. Yet, God delights in and  rejoices over us the whole time, as his beloved creation. Take a few moments today to ask God about this, listen for his answer, and meditate on his unending love for us, his very own bride.