From SENT: Chapter 1
The Father
I stood there on the sidelines, in rapt attention. The African sun beat down, causing sweat to mingle with the tears that rolled down my cheeks. A few minutes earlier, my son -- then eight years old -- had taken the field in his very first "real" soccer game. A team of high school students from America had come to Uganda where we lived, to share about Christ -- and to play soccer. On this day my son was invited to join them as they took on the local village team. When called on he had proudly tossed his shoes aside before scampering onto the field. I was absolutely mesmerized as I stood there watching him. The overwhelming affection I have for him came pouring out through those tears. "What the heck!" I thought, "It’s just a soccer game, for crying out loud." But that was my boy out there! I was so proud of him. I felt his every disappointment and every thrill during the next thirty minutes or so as powerfully as he did himself. I love him!
And yes, God loves me like that. He loves you like that. He loves it that you’ve signed up for this missions thing, or that you're participating in this local outreach. He feels your apprehension. He experiences your excitement. He will intimately know every disappointment and thrill, every fear and every temptation, every sacrifice and every victory. You affect Him. His heart is touched by you.
And not just with this whole missions deal. But when you go to work. When you step out to be friendly to a neighbor. When you fall in love and when you go on vacation. And when you screw up and get it all wrong He loves you. He loves you.
Jesus taught us to refer to God as a Father. I have five children. I cannot even begin to tell you how I love them. Words are pathetically insufficient. I cannot tell you how beautiful they are to me, or how much I love it when they sit on my lap or create a piece of art for me. I love them so much. I do not love them because they do a lot of stuff for me. As they grow older, they actually do become helpful around the house and in many other ways. But even so, their work does not come close to justifying the love I have for them. I simply love them and always have and always will. When they were younger, they really did not do any practical thing for me – but they did cause lots of problems and make lots of messes. And how I loved them! They were (and are) so adorable. I remember little things, like my four-year old walking into the room with his big mischievous smile and saying to me, “Daddy! Hey dude!” Melted my heart. I love that guy! These are my kids. I’d do anything for them. They have an effect on my heart that nobody else does.
One day when I came back home in the evening, my little son ran up to me, full of excitement. "Daddy, I know what your favorite color is!"
"Really? What is it?"
And he, full of confident excitement, responded, "It's GREEN!"
“You are so right! How did you know?" (I don't think I knew this fun fact about myself before that moment).
"And I know what your favorite animal is too!" Even more at a loss, I again inquired into this detail about myself of which I was apparently ignorant.
He enlightened me, "A rhinoceros!"
I affirmed.
And then came the kicker. With a look of pure delight and confidence, mixed with just the right touch of mischief and hope, he made it to the finale, "And I know who your favorite person is!"
At this point I was all smiles, but still a little unsure where this might go. As he squealed his answer, "ME!", he dove into my arms with a big smile on his face, and wrapped his little arms around my neck.
"You are absolutely right, Son. You are my favorite!"
And he is. My other kids are also my favorites, but that admission makes him no less so.
You are God's favorite.
We know that the greatest commandment is to love God. And yet there is something even more foundational. Something that must come first. We need to be confident of His love for us. The Bible says that it is experiencing and knowing His love for us that causes us to love. “We love because God first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, NCV). It is His love that inspires and enables us to love.
“What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to. But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. And that's only the beginning. Who knows how we'll end up!” (1 John 4:1-2, The Message)
Think about how awesome His love is! How unexpected! How extravagant! Can you hear the Wow! in John’s words? Be captivated by His love for you. Meditate on it, even now. It’s beyond reason. The living God is pursuing you. He likes you.
God sometimes uses marriage and the love of a man for his special woman as a way of describing His love for us. Officiating weddings is one of my favorite things. Recently I had that opportunity with a beautiful couple we have known for some time. As always, this wedding prodded me to think about the love of God. I came to realize afresh that I just do not get it.
God is seen as the passionate groom who faithfully loves and even lays down His life for His bride. There is something about that picture that does not easily register in my mind. But this is a significant part of God’s self-revelation. He loves me. He loves me. He likes me. He wants me to be close to Him. To know me, and to be known by me. I must confess that this makes no sense whatsoever to me. Still, it is the truth, and is beyond way cool. It is hands down the best thing ever in the whole world.
The wedding thing gives me the impression that God pursues me. He woos me. He sacrifices for me. He wants good for me. He delights in me. He likes to hang out with me. I know, this feels ridiculous even to write such nonsense. But it’s the Bible's view of God. And it’s the view – or maybe a view – that He wants us to have. Because it is TRUE!
So, here’s the thing: This seemingly ridiculous nonsense causes something in me – deep down inside – to light up at the thought. God likes me. God wants me. So who cares about the snub I received yesterday from someone whose opinion matters a lot to me? GOD thinks I’m cool. God is pursuing me. God loves me. I respond to this.
My friend Wendy responds to this too. Wendy is a tough lady in her forties, I think. She lives on the streets. She’s had a rough life and is not sure how or where God might fit into it all. She has dealt with rejection and has been hurt a lot. For much of her life she’s turned her back on God, and wanted nothing to do with Him. But now she is reaching out in hope – in the hope that maybe God loves her. That would make a world of difference, if God loved her. Maybe even enough of a difference for her to become a full-on, radical follower of Jesus. I am praying so.
In my life I often forget that Christianity is about God loving me. That’s the root of it. Even before I get to my love for Him, it is God’s love for me. That is what this thing is all about – that He loves me. Our faith often gets lost in services and songs and obligations and rules and doing right and serving and systems and principles and on and on. Those things are part of following Jesus. But there is so much more at the very heart of it all.
In a marriage, there are certainly principles and even rules to be followed. On Valentine’s Day there’s a “rule” that I give flowers or chocolate -- or preferably both -- to my wife. There’s a rule that I tell her ‘I love you’ often. Another one that I spend time with her, and that we go out on dates. That we kiss before I leave the house in the morning, that I tell her she’s beautiful, that we make love, that I don’t call her fat when she's pregnant. But my marriage is so not about these rules. In fact, I obey them without even thinking of them as rules at all, or principles, or guidelines, or anything else. I do these things because I want to, because I love her and I want to please her and I love making her happy. Our marriage is all about love. And this love makes the giving of flowers or the washing of dishes or the earning of money full of meaning and value.
And following Jesus is like that. It really, really is. I do lots of stuff, and follow lots of principles... praying, giving, Bible-ing, and so on. Not doing things He hates. Trying to do stuff He loves – helping my neighbor, giving a meal to a homeless man, worshipping,... But it is so not about all that. It is about love – that He loves me. That He wants good for my life. That He gave His life for me, and He wants to be with me.
Whatever I do as a good Christian that is not done out of love for God is worthless. Totally worthless. And whatever supposedly ‘secular’ thing I do out of love for God has so much value. I can earn a paycheck or scrub a toilet or change a diaper or mow the grass or make a latte out of love for God. And it is so cool. I can do it giving thanks that He loves me.
You are God's favorite.
He loves you. Believe it! Trust it! “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.” (1 Jn 4:16 NLT). You can experience His love, and you can trust it. You truly can! And when you do, you will begin to truly love God.
I stood there on the sidelines, in rapt attention. The African sun beat down, causing sweat to mingle with the tears that rolled down my cheeks. A few minutes earlier, my son -- then eight years old -- had taken the field in his very first "real" soccer game. A team of high school students from America had come to Uganda where we lived, to share about Christ -- and to play soccer. On this day my son was invited to join them as they took on the local village team. When called on he had proudly tossed his shoes aside before scampering onto the field. I was absolutely mesmerized as I stood there watching him. The overwhelming affection I have for him came pouring out through those tears. "What the heck!" I thought, "It’s just a soccer game, for crying out loud." But that was my boy out there! I was so proud of him. I felt his every disappointment and every thrill during the next thirty minutes or so as powerfully as he did himself. I love him!
And yes, God loves me like that. He loves you like that. He loves it that you’ve signed up for this missions thing, or that you're participating in this local outreach. He feels your apprehension. He experiences your excitement. He will intimately know every disappointment and thrill, every fear and every temptation, every sacrifice and every victory. You affect Him. His heart is touched by you.
And not just with this whole missions deal. But when you go to work. When you step out to be friendly to a neighbor. When you fall in love and when you go on vacation. And when you screw up and get it all wrong He loves you. He loves you.
Jesus taught us to refer to God as a Father. I have five children. I cannot even begin to tell you how I love them. Words are pathetically insufficient. I cannot tell you how beautiful they are to me, or how much I love it when they sit on my lap or create a piece of art for me. I love them so much. I do not love them because they do a lot of stuff for me. As they grow older, they actually do become helpful around the house and in many other ways. But even so, their work does not come close to justifying the love I have for them. I simply love them and always have and always will. When they were younger, they really did not do any practical thing for me – but they did cause lots of problems and make lots of messes. And how I loved them! They were (and are) so adorable. I remember little things, like my four-year old walking into the room with his big mischievous smile and saying to me, “Daddy! Hey dude!” Melted my heart. I love that guy! These are my kids. I’d do anything for them. They have an effect on my heart that nobody else does.
One day when I came back home in the evening, my little son ran up to me, full of excitement. "Daddy, I know what your favorite color is!"
"Really? What is it?"
And he, full of confident excitement, responded, "It's GREEN!"
“You are so right! How did you know?" (I don't think I knew this fun fact about myself before that moment).
"And I know what your favorite animal is too!" Even more at a loss, I again inquired into this detail about myself of which I was apparently ignorant.
He enlightened me, "A rhinoceros!"
I affirmed.
And then came the kicker. With a look of pure delight and confidence, mixed with just the right touch of mischief and hope, he made it to the finale, "And I know who your favorite person is!"
At this point I was all smiles, but still a little unsure where this might go. As he squealed his answer, "ME!", he dove into my arms with a big smile on his face, and wrapped his little arms around my neck.
"You are absolutely right, Son. You are my favorite!"
And he is. My other kids are also my favorites, but that admission makes him no less so.
You are God's favorite.
We know that the greatest commandment is to love God. And yet there is something even more foundational. Something that must come first. We need to be confident of His love for us. The Bible says that it is experiencing and knowing His love for us that causes us to love. “We love because God first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, NCV). It is His love that inspires and enables us to love.
“What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to. But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. And that's only the beginning. Who knows how we'll end up!” (1 John 4:1-2, The Message)
Think about how awesome His love is! How unexpected! How extravagant! Can you hear the Wow! in John’s words? Be captivated by His love for you. Meditate on it, even now. It’s beyond reason. The living God is pursuing you. He likes you.
God sometimes uses marriage and the love of a man for his special woman as a way of describing His love for us. Officiating weddings is one of my favorite things. Recently I had that opportunity with a beautiful couple we have known for some time. As always, this wedding prodded me to think about the love of God. I came to realize afresh that I just do not get it.
God is seen as the passionate groom who faithfully loves and even lays down His life for His bride. There is something about that picture that does not easily register in my mind. But this is a significant part of God’s self-revelation. He loves me. He loves me. He likes me. He wants me to be close to Him. To know me, and to be known by me. I must confess that this makes no sense whatsoever to me. Still, it is the truth, and is beyond way cool. It is hands down the best thing ever in the whole world.
The wedding thing gives me the impression that God pursues me. He woos me. He sacrifices for me. He wants good for me. He delights in me. He likes to hang out with me. I know, this feels ridiculous even to write such nonsense. But it’s the Bible's view of God. And it’s the view – or maybe a view – that He wants us to have. Because it is TRUE!
So, here’s the thing: This seemingly ridiculous nonsense causes something in me – deep down inside – to light up at the thought. God likes me. God wants me. So who cares about the snub I received yesterday from someone whose opinion matters a lot to me? GOD thinks I’m cool. God is pursuing me. God loves me. I respond to this.
My friend Wendy responds to this too. Wendy is a tough lady in her forties, I think. She lives on the streets. She’s had a rough life and is not sure how or where God might fit into it all. She has dealt with rejection and has been hurt a lot. For much of her life she’s turned her back on God, and wanted nothing to do with Him. But now she is reaching out in hope – in the hope that maybe God loves her. That would make a world of difference, if God loved her. Maybe even enough of a difference for her to become a full-on, radical follower of Jesus. I am praying so.
In my life I often forget that Christianity is about God loving me. That’s the root of it. Even before I get to my love for Him, it is God’s love for me. That is what this thing is all about – that He loves me. Our faith often gets lost in services and songs and obligations and rules and doing right and serving and systems and principles and on and on. Those things are part of following Jesus. But there is so much more at the very heart of it all.
In a marriage, there are certainly principles and even rules to be followed. On Valentine’s Day there’s a “rule” that I give flowers or chocolate -- or preferably both -- to my wife. There’s a rule that I tell her ‘I love you’ often. Another one that I spend time with her, and that we go out on dates. That we kiss before I leave the house in the morning, that I tell her she’s beautiful, that we make love, that I don’t call her fat when she's pregnant. But my marriage is so not about these rules. In fact, I obey them without even thinking of them as rules at all, or principles, or guidelines, or anything else. I do these things because I want to, because I love her and I want to please her and I love making her happy. Our marriage is all about love. And this love makes the giving of flowers or the washing of dishes or the earning of money full of meaning and value.
And following Jesus is like that. It really, really is. I do lots of stuff, and follow lots of principles... praying, giving, Bible-ing, and so on. Not doing things He hates. Trying to do stuff He loves – helping my neighbor, giving a meal to a homeless man, worshipping,... But it is so not about all that. It is about love – that He loves me. That He wants good for my life. That He gave His life for me, and He wants to be with me.
Whatever I do as a good Christian that is not done out of love for God is worthless. Totally worthless. And whatever supposedly ‘secular’ thing I do out of love for God has so much value. I can earn a paycheck or scrub a toilet or change a diaper or mow the grass or make a latte out of love for God. And it is so cool. I can do it giving thanks that He loves me.
You are God's favorite.
He loves you. Believe it! Trust it! “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.” (1 Jn 4:16 NLT). You can experience His love, and you can trust it. You truly can! And when you do, you will begin to truly love God.