SO LOVED
For God so loved the world that He gave...John 3:16a
We who are made in the image of God recognize a rare and precious kind of love. We celebrate a stranger who gives a kidney to one he barely knows. We post the pictures of rescue workers who risk their lives to save others in peril. Yet who would send their only son or daughter to their death in order to save an enemy? I don't know any such person, not without the regenerative influence of the God who did it first.
How is it that God could send His only Son to earth, allow Him to suffer and give up His life willingly, and experience rejection at such a gift? Most of humanity shrugs their shoulders at the gesture. I don't understand it. Do you?
God so loved Adam and Eve that when they fell, He made a way for them to know the forgiveness of their sins.
God so loved Adam and Eve's children that He put a redemptive plan into action immediately. His anger didn't simmer. Salvation didn't go on hold.
God so loved the children of Israel that He stayed His hand of judgment for hundreds of years, begging them to repent so they could be blessed.
God so loved you and me that He has written the redemptive version of our story and is waiting for us to discover it. How do we know when we have found it? When we fall on our knees in shock and gratitude.
God so loves - and His love gives. God is not stingy. God's love does not wait until He feels we've earned it. He fashions the gift and plans the gift-giving ceremony when we are yet completely unresponsive.
What have you planned to give to me that I have kept at arms length? Show me. In Jesus' name, Amen
