The Annoying Kid Next Door

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! – 1 John 3:1a          

    
       As I wrote my last post on service and was thinking about God's mercy and the Church's response to Him I found myself sad on the Lord's behalf.  In my own experience I can remember how I've treated God at times, how I've pushed Him out of the way to make room for other things, how I've forgotten Him. 

    
        I think sometimes we forget what it means to have relationship with Christ.  We forget who He is in our lives.  Consider this:  you're at a big, fancy event and see this person that you really admire.  They're rich, world famous, powerful, influential.  You see them surrounded by a huge crowd and although you wish you could say hello you know there's no way you would get close enough to say anything, and even if you did, would they even notice you?  As you're standing in the corner contemplating this, that person sees you from a distance, calls out your name, and runs towards you!  They give you a giant hug, tell you how they've been waiting to meet you, and ask if you have any time coming up that you could hang out.  How do you respond?  Most of us would clear our calendars for as long as we could to hang out with that person!  I mean if this famous person wants to hang out with us, what could possibly get in the way of that, right?

     
       Now, imagine that person is Christ.  How do you respond?  It's sad to say many of us would respond completely different.  We'd pull out our calendars, hum and hull about some appointment we have, and end up asking if they could e-mail us later to find a date.  It's sad, but we think of Jesus more as the annoying kid next door that our mom makes us play with than this awesome, amazing God of the universe who desires to spend time with us. We spend time with Him because we feel like we're supposed to - after all, isn't it the "Christian thing to do?"   We pray and read our Bibles because we don't want to hurt God's feelings or because "mom said."  In truth, if you simply looked at the fact that we are but a vapor on this earth and He is the everlasting God, we should be so honored and amazed that He should want relationship with us, that He should even know our name, that we would clear our calendars for the rest of our lives to make room for whatever He wants to do!

        
    Are you treating Him as the amazing, merciful, and compassionate God that He is or has He become that annoying kid next door in your life?

Whoever has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” – John 14:21

(Beautiful picture courtesy of my friend, Jessica Sepúlveda.  Thanks, Jess!)

Service is a Choice

Then [Jesus] called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me." – Mark 8:34

          
     The other day I was contemplating the idea of living in service to God.  I was thinking how God sent His Son, Jesus, to take my punishment before I ever asked to be saved.  Part of me began to think, "I never asked for Him to do that so why should I dedicate my life to Him?  He did that all on His own.  I'm grateful and accept the sacrifice He made for me, but do I have to give up how I want to live my life for Him?"  The resounding answer in my head was simple – no.  I don't have to give my life in service to my God.  He loved me so much that He gave me free will so that I could make my own decisions.  In the case of service to the Lord who gave His life for mine, I again find that I have the free will to decide how I will respond to His amazing gift of love.

            
     An excellent example of this concept can be found in the fairly recent movie "The Conte of Monte Cristo." About halfway through the movie we find our main character, Edmond Dantes, washed up on a beach after escaping a prison where he was wrongly incarcerated, beaten, and held without hope of release.  Unfortunately, he finds himself in the midst of a rough-looking band of pirates.  The captain, instead of killing him outright, orders him to fight one of his crew to the death and the winner would be allowed to live.  This crew member, Jacopo, wronged the captain and was destined to be killed anyways.  As the fight ensues Dantes comes to the point where he could kill Jacopo.  Instead, however, he chooses to spare Jacopo's life and even pleads on his behalf to the captain, thus sparing his own life and Jacopo's.  Amazed at Dante's willingness to spare him, Jacopo devotes his life in service to Dantes.

    
        What an awesome portrayal of our own relationship with Christ!  Christ was wrongly accused, beaten, and killed yet when He could kill us for our sins, He chose instead to show mercy.  What surprises me most about this scene is Jacopo's response.  He was an immoral pirate, a thief, yet he gives his life in service to Dantes after being saved.  He could have very easily said, "Thanks, man!  Catch you around sometime!"  Instead, he recognized the sacrifice that was made and desired to serve in response. 

      
      He faced the same choice we face with regard to service of Christ.  We could look at His sacrifice, accept it, and say, "Hey Jesus, that was really nice of you.  Maybe I'll see you later sometime" or we could choose to say, "Jesus, I am so undeserving of the sacrifice you made for me.  I give my life for you to use as You would see fit.  Let me be of service to You.  Use me, Father."

      
      Am I forced to serve God with my life?  No.  Is it my honor and privilege to allow God to use me for His purposes?  Most definitely.  That is the choice I made, but you get to make this choice for yourself.  No one can force you one way or the other.  Service is a choice.

Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. – Romans 15:17

What Love!

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

On nice days I enjoy taking walks on the beach near my house.  This afternoon was such a day.  As I walked along the beach looking at shells I saw what seemed to be a pretty white shell, but it was upside down.  Reaching over to pick it up I found that there was dirt and grime stuck to its beautiful front.  Instead of putting it in my pocket with the rest of my treasures, I laid it back down on the sand.  As I stood and continued walking, God revealed something wonderful to me.  In His eyes, no shell is too dirty!  No shell is turned away!

While I was looking for near perfection, Jesus found beauty in the dirty, grimy shell!

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.  – Luke 19:10

It still amazes me that while I was still lost in my sin, still a child of darkness, Christ took my punishment on the cross.  I had never heard His Name, had never made a decision to follow Him or to even accept His precious gift, but He loved me so much even then that He died for me anyways!  What love!  What love that He could love me even in my lost, broken, sinful state!

 “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;  I have summoned you by name; you are Mine . . . Since you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life." -  Isaiah 43:1b, 4

 As I was walking home from the beach, in awe of this love God has shown me, a beautiful song came on my iPod.  The lyrics of this song talk about how sometimes we wish we could take back all those things we did before Christ.  That somehow God would erase that person we were before.  As the song continues, however, it has a beautiful message that the remembrance of where we've been keeps us in awe of the One who brought us out of the bondage of our past of sin into a future of freedom with the God who loves us dearly!

I used to wish that I could rewrite history.  I used to dream that each mistake could be erased.  Then I could just pretend I never knew the me back then. 

I used to pray that You would take this shame away.  Hide all the evidence of who I’ve been.
But it’s the memory of the place You brought me from that keeps me on my knees and even though I’m free . . .

Heal the wound but leave the scar.  A reminder of how merciful You are . . .

I have not lived a life that boasts of anything I don’t take pride in what I bring.  But I’ll build an altar with the rubble that You’ve found me in and every stone will sing of what You can redeem . . .

Don’t let me forget everything You’ve done for me.  Don’t let me forget the beauty in the suffering.

Heal the wound but leave the scar, a reminder of how merciful You are . . . 

~ "Heal the Wound" By:  Point of Grace

I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.  - Isaiah 43:25

More Than Meets the Eye

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her:  "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."  ~ Genesis 16:13

Have you ever felt unappreciated?  Like no one really cared how you were doing as long as you got your work done or did what they needed from you?  As I was reading the story of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar in Genesis 16, I was struck by how much we often have in common with Hagar.  I had never really paid that much attention to her before and, turns out, that was the point.  You see, Hagar was a servant in Abram's house.  In this passage she was given by her mistress to her master to be his wife.  It says nothing about Hagar choosing this or even being excited at the idea.  She had no choice in the matter. 

Hagar, throughout her life, up to the point of her encounter with God, was seen first as someone who could run errands and get things done, then as the carrier of the heir to Abram's house.  In either case it was not her that was seen, but what she could accomplish.  I would imagine she began to feel invisible, unseen, forgotten.  It says Sarai began to treat her so harshly that Hagar ran away. 

It was at this point when Hagar found herself alone in the desert that an angel of the Lord came to her.  He says:

Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going? ~ Genesis 16:8a

Notice that the angel uses her name.  Earlier in verses 2 and 3, Sarai only calls her "maidservant."  She doesn't use her name.  But this angel of the Lord comes, calls her by name, and asks about her, not the task she's supposed to be working on or the child she carries.  He was interested in her.  I would imagine that is something Hagar had never experienced before, or at least not very often.  She had gotten used to being invisible, but God said she was more than that.  She desired to be noticed and God came down to tell her she was not forgotten. 

Your Father has not forgotten you.  He sees you.  He knows what you face.  He knows you feel invisible sometimes, but He wants you to know that He sees you, He loves you, and He wants the very best for you.

This story portrays a lot of Sarai's less desirable qualities of wanting to be in control, but I believe Sarai was just as broken as Hagar.  Here she was, the wife of a prominent man of God and she couldn't provide the one thing her society said a wife should – an heir.  The first time she is mentioned in scripture her barrenness is made known:

Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.  ~ Genesis 11:30

I believe she must have felt unworthy, humiliated, like a failure.  I would imagine she saw herself as "less than" because she couldn't complete the one thing she was called to do.  But our God is an awesome God and He saw Sarai just as He saw Hagar and just He sees us. 

God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.  ~ Genesis 17:15

Literally translated, Sarah means princess.  She saw herself as a failure, but god saw her as His princess.  He saw nations coming from her when she began to doubt her ability to provide just one child.  God sees more in you than you can ever see in yourself.  Men, think of Gideon (mighty man of God while hiding in a winepress), Peter (a fisherman who later was a great apostle), Paul (a persecutor of the Church who later penned most of the New Testament). 

There is more in you than what you see in the mirror.  Our Father sees you and loves you as His dear child.  Never believe that you are forgotten, because your Father in heaven sees you and calls you His own.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. ~ Matthew 10:29-31