Infinite

At a recent Bible study, the pastor had us meditate on an excerpt of Jeremiah 29:11: For surely I know the plans I have for you… to give you a future with hope (NRSV).

We were asked to identify the most important word in the verse. I started with hope, others started with give, one suggested surely, someone else said know. We talked through every word in the verse until not a single word was left without an advocate.

Every word, we concluded, was the most important.

It reminded me of a message preached by Lisa Harper where she relayed a theology professor’s demonstration of God’s infinite love.

He went around the room and looked each one of us in the eye. And he said, “God is saying to you, ‘You are my absolute favorite. I love you the most. You, Lisa Harper, I love you the most. You, {insert your name here} I love you the most.’ And the most amazing thing is that it’s true, because in God’s infinite love, each one of us is his absolute favorite. He can – and does – love each one of us the most.”

It’s an interesting visualization for a term that can be tossed about too lightly. The idea of God speaking to each one of us as His most beloved points to the truth of the saying love multiplies as it is divided. God’s love is not like a paper that shreds into smaller and smaller pieces. It is like a flame passed candle to candle. No matter how far it spreads, the light of that love grows rather than diminishes.

Infinite love.

Infinite Word

Just as each one of us is the most precious to God, every Word we encounter is the most precious to us. The more we study, the more we see. Like that flame racing across the page, God’s word becomes a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Knowledge, guidance, comfort, reproof is given in situation after situation after situation. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2Timothy 3:16).

The knowledge of God is inexhaustible. The word of God contains the eternal nature itself.

“My word will never pass away,” Jesus told his disciples.

Heaven and earth will pass away. Most things we know and strive for will pass away. We, in our mortal state, will pass away. But God’s word – the presence, the promises, the power – will never pass away.

It is a message that repeats in all 3 synoptic gospels as well as in the Old Testament Psalms (119:89) and the major prophet Isaiah (40:8). God’s Word is eternal.

Infinite word.

Infinite Game

In his 2019 book The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek points out that the downfall of many companies (and individuals) is their finite mindset. They are focused on this quarter’s profits, this year’s annual report, this sector’s winners and losers. To have real impact, Sinek argues, business leaders need to adopt an infinite mindset, where the goal is to build something that outlasts ourselves.

That’ll preach.

Simon introduces the 5 practices of an infinite mindset on his website where he builds upon the idea that the only competitor in an infinite game is us. In his introductory video he asks: “How do we make our products better this year than they were last year, how do we make our systems better this year than they were last year, how do we make our culture stronger this year than it was last year…”

Remove the business-ese for a moment and I think these are critical questions every one of us should be asking. How do we make our communities better this year than they were last year? How do we make our relationships better this year than they were last year? How do we make our faith stronger this year than it was last year?

We should not be asking, Am I better than someone else?

We should be asking, How do I keep improving?

Finite Resources

I’m on board with developing a more infinite-focused mindset, but the reality is, I’ve got some limitations. Like, a lot of limitations. Time, energy, money, knowledge, skills… it’s a long list. Which raises the question:

How do we play the infinite game with finite resources?

I haven’t read Simon’s book yet, so maybe he will address this in a different way, but here’s what I think. First, we better be applying our finite resources to the most important of our infinite questions. We better not be squandering our limited time and energy chasing after finite wins.

Secondly, when we’re playing an infinite game, we better have a few infinite game pieces on our side of the board.

I’d like to propose – you guessed it – God’s infinite love and God’s infinite word. And here’s one more: God’s infinite capacity for prayer.

2025 has been a rough start for many people. This includes people that I know, and people that they know. By the time I sat in prayer this week, I felt like I was handing God a web of requests that was starting to resemble a knotted mass of spiky Christmas lights all blinking an angry red. Sometimes the best I could do is say: All of it. God. Just… all of it.

And He said: ok.

Because no matter how long and messy our prayer chain gets, God has an infinite capacity to address each one. In the midst of the messiest situations, sometimes the best we can do is say: Here, God. All of it. Just, all of it. And we rely on His infinite love and His infinite word to untangle our requests with His infinite capacity for prayer.

Get Started

So let me challenge all of us at the start of this new year. Whatever goals, whatever challenges, whatever resolutions – don’t play the finite games. Play the infinite ones. And place on the game board the most powerful pieces you have:

• Infinite Love.
• Infinite Word.
• Infinite Prayer.

You can do beautiful, challenging, and infinite things this year. Let’s get started.

This post was first written for inspireafire.com. God’s blessings on your year ahead!