I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. -John 10:10b
We do not wake up one day and suddenly experience all that God has for us like some sort of magical elixir. When I was young, we typically took vacations the old-fashioned way, riding in a car for long boring hours seeing the country along the way. One year, we flew to our destination and had a great time. However, I realized that there was so much that I missed when we simply flew over the country. Living Grace is better experienced as an adventurous journey. Will you join me?
It is helpful when you begin a journey to have some sort of destination in mind. For some proudly reckless adventurers, they may declare that they are just going all out to chase their heart. That is a bold destination. Others prefer something more concrete. Maybe I will be offering a bit for both parties.
Our God is a reckless adventurer of love. He chases after us with His entire being though we have disappointed Him, and it is almost certain that as long as we live, we will continue to break His heart. Yet his pursuit is relentless. Once He catches up with us or more accurately, we stop running from Him long enough to be caught by Him, He woos us with the beauty of creation and the freedom of Grace. Along with chocolates and flowers and beautiful sunsets, He offers us forgiveness and peace. Even as He offers it to us, and we eagerly accept, He knows that it won’t be long before He must go through the whole process again. What a love! That love is life, and that life is offered more abundantly.
Honestly, we cannot hope to experience the fullness of this life unless we seek to model this reckless lover. Yet too many of us in the church fail in this regard. “Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me.” The lost must break your heart again and again. Emotionally, you will be knocked down in the first round and every round thereafter. You must keep getting up.
This reckless lover chooses to love people of every nation. The same pursuit that He has done of you, oh reader, He is doing with the people of every nation, race, and culture around the world. Even if your nation has deemed the people of that nation as inferior or even as an enemy. The steadfast love of the Lord still chases them down. It might be hard for you to believe this, but our God loves even the Muslim, Buddhist and any other label that we might put on another nation. Other nations led by dictators and those who might kill the followers of Christ if given the chance, are loved by God. This is amazing!
Maybe you have your doubts. Remember that this reckless lover is not withheld by the limits of your own heart. Jesus was put on trial and executed by the very people that He came to seek and to save. Jesus loved them so much that He surrendered His own natural survival in order to purchase for them eternal life! Now, don’t get too quick to judge me. I am a patriot. I love the United States. This nation has given me more privileges and opportunities than I can count. However, what I am saying is that we are not the only people that Jesus loves.
Oh! Christian examine your own heart. The old saying that I used to hear so often, “Love the sinner and hate the sin,” sounds nice. But a more powerful saying that I hope we will replace it with as our destination is this, “Love the sinner and hate MY sin.”
