See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. -1 John 3:1-
I encountered this verse while reading the Word this morning. It seems easy to understand, and for me at least, easy to nod at and pass over. But upon further thought, I think I really love this verse.
We know God loves us. We hear that all the time. We tell our girls that all the time.
But here, John gives an example. "Look at this demonstration of God's love! He's called you his children!" If I take the time to remember my state without Christ, this is pretty incredible.
Ephesians 2:12 says, "remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Earlier, I'm simply described as dead prior to Christ.
Having grown up in a Christian home, these facts about me are easy to forget. But Paul makes it clear that this describes all people (2:3).
Yesterday, the Lord gave me an interesting example of this spiritual truth.
We know God loves us. We hear that all the time. We tell our girls that all the time.
But here, John gives an example. "Look at this demonstration of God's love! He's called you his children!" If I take the time to remember my state without Christ, this is pretty incredible.
Ephesians 2:12 says, "remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Earlier, I'm simply described as dead prior to Christ.
Having grown up in a Christian home, these facts about me are easy to forget. But Paul makes it clear that this describes all people (2:3).
Yesterday, the Lord gave me an interesting example of this spiritual truth.
Yesterday morning I went down to the basement to get my running shoes. A book near our guest bed happened to catch my attention, so I walked over to pick it up. As I turned to leave the basement, I noticed that there was something at the bottom of our egress window -- a CAT! (I should've taken a picture, but the cat at right looks something like it). Somehow it must have fallen into the 3-4 foot deep window well. I had no idea how long it had been there.
This cat's situation got me thinking: what if I hadn't gone down to the basement for a couple more days? Would the cat have starved to death? This cat was stuck in the window, and was completely helpless unless I intervened. It had fallen in there on its own accord, but was now stuck. It was dead unless I rescued it.
And I was dead unless God rescued me. We made some phone calls and were able to rescue the cat. It was interesting to watch as we tried to get the cat out of the window well, it didn't want our help and tried to jump out of the window well on its own...unsuccessfully. Finally we were able to get it in the crate.
Don't we do the same thing? Resisting the very Hand that reaches to save us? One of my solemn responsibilities as a campus minister is to pray for our work, but even this morning, I find myself lingering on small tasks, more practical tasks. (I trust some of you can relate). Even today I need to be reminded to continue asking, seeking, and knocking.
Because God one-upped me in my cat illustration. He did something Katie and I weren't prepared to do with the cat. (Sorry animal lovers!)
He didn't just rescue me.
He made me a part of his family.
-Noah
This cat's situation got me thinking: what if I hadn't gone down to the basement for a couple more days? Would the cat have starved to death? This cat was stuck in the window, and was completely helpless unless I intervened. It had fallen in there on its own accord, but was now stuck. It was dead unless I rescued it.
And I was dead unless God rescued me. We made some phone calls and were able to rescue the cat. It was interesting to watch as we tried to get the cat out of the window well, it didn't want our help and tried to jump out of the window well on its own...unsuccessfully. Finally we were able to get it in the crate.
Don't we do the same thing? Resisting the very Hand that reaches to save us? One of my solemn responsibilities as a campus minister is to pray for our work, but even this morning, I find myself lingering on small tasks, more practical tasks. (I trust some of you can relate). Even today I need to be reminded to continue asking, seeking, and knocking.
Because God one-upped me in my cat illustration. He did something Katie and I weren't prepared to do with the cat. (Sorry animal lovers!)
He didn't just rescue me.
He made me a part of his family.
-Noah
