I am so excited, happy, amazed, overjoyed, thrilled, delighted, ecstatic...okay you get the point. Now let me tell you why.
For the past 3 weeks we have been working on a preview for The Pursuit Church's All Star kids games which is July 9th-13th. The preview was basically a free one day event where kids got to come and play soccer, football, basketball, make crafts, and more importantly hear about the love of Jesus. We had almost a 100 kids show up, and in a 3 hr time span 17 kids gave their life to Christ. 17 kids that come from all walks of life and backgrounds now have a basic understanding of the gospel, and of what true, unconditional love actually means. These kid's lives have radically changed, and the affect that they will have on their own friends and family will be immeasurable.
One little girl in particular that I got to coach (I was the soccer coach of the camp) caught my eye and my heart. She was one of the first to raise her hand after the devotion to say that she wanted Jesus to come into her heart. After one of the counselors explained what that meant and they prayed together she made her way over to the bench beside me. She then proceeded to plop down with a huge sigh, and look at me with a frustrated scowl on her face. I asked her what was wrong and after a huff and a few more sighs this is what she said: "I prayed that prayer to Jesus and stuff and they said He is in my heart now and all my bad stuff is forgiven. But does he know I hit my brother last week? Cause my mom said thats real bad and I dunno if Jesus will forgive that. Do I have to do extra stuff for that one?" I immediately explained that all her past and presents mistakes are forgiven - even the really, really bad ones. She was relieved, and I couldn't help but laugh as she skipped off towards her friends.
I sat there pondering the implications of her words, because although her innocence was precious, she voiced something many people struggle with: Am I clean enough for God? Am I too far gone for redemption? Am I really forgiven? The reality is that Jesus covers all of our sins and all of our mistakes so that we don't have to be clean enough. He doesn't even wait to call us after we get our act together...He calls us to Himself right in the middle of our sin. (see Mark 2:14-17) How can we even question this gift? Every time we do it's like we are standing at the foot of the cross, staring up at Jesus telling him that what he did isn’t quite going to cut it. We let our insecurities reign over us and we just can't seem to let go of the guilt our past mistakes have born. We are staring this King in the face & telling him that DYING for us isn’t quite sufficient enough. We keep letting the burdens of our past reappear as if they hold some value, when in actuality they mean nothing, and are worthless in the face of Christ.
I reflect on my own life and know that I am guilty of this, and that makes me want to fall on my face in shame. I’ve done it - I do it all the time. We get so caught up in our own selfishness and doubts that we distract ourselves from the simple, pure, beautiful point of it all. His grace is sufficient for us and His sacrifice was enough. We HAVE to rest in this, because if we can't even accept His boundless love for ourselves personally, than we can't even begin to show His love to others.
One little girl in particular that I got to coach (I was the soccer coach of the camp) caught my eye and my heart. She was one of the first to raise her hand after the devotion to say that she wanted Jesus to come into her heart. After one of the counselors explained what that meant and they prayed together she made her way over to the bench beside me. She then proceeded to plop down with a huge sigh, and look at me with a frustrated scowl on her face. I asked her what was wrong and after a huff and a few more sighs this is what she said: "I prayed that prayer to Jesus and stuff and they said He is in my heart now and all my bad stuff is forgiven. But does he know I hit my brother last week? Cause my mom said thats real bad and I dunno if Jesus will forgive that. Do I have to do extra stuff for that one?" I immediately explained that all her past and presents mistakes are forgiven - even the really, really bad ones. She was relieved, and I couldn't help but laugh as she skipped off towards her friends.
I sat there pondering the implications of her words, because although her innocence was precious, she voiced something many people struggle with: Am I clean enough for God? Am I too far gone for redemption? Am I really forgiven? The reality is that Jesus covers all of our sins and all of our mistakes so that we don't have to be clean enough. He doesn't even wait to call us after we get our act together...He calls us to Himself right in the middle of our sin. (see Mark 2:14-17) How can we even question this gift? Every time we do it's like we are standing at the foot of the cross, staring up at Jesus telling him that what he did isn’t quite going to cut it. We let our insecurities reign over us and we just can't seem to let go of the guilt our past mistakes have born. We are staring this King in the face & telling him that DYING for us isn’t quite sufficient enough. We keep letting the burdens of our past reappear as if they hold some value, when in actuality they mean nothing, and are worthless in the face of Christ.
I reflect on my own life and know that I am guilty of this, and that makes me want to fall on my face in shame. I’ve done it - I do it all the time. We get so caught up in our own selfishness and doubts that we distract ourselves from the simple, pure, beautiful point of it all. His grace is sufficient for us and His sacrifice was enough. We HAVE to rest in this, because if we can't even accept His boundless love for ourselves personally, than we can't even begin to show His love to others.
Redemption is one of the sweetest things I have experienced in this life. As humans with a finite minds, the concept of grace and redemption are hard ones to wrap our brains around. We forgive but with limits, and we love but with conditions. God breaks chains, and He has no limits or conditions. God looks at us in all of our mess and brokenness, and tells us that once we are truly surrendered to Him nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). Not because of anything we do, I mean we can't even save ourselves let alone keep ourselves saved, but because of grace and eternal, blissful, unbounded love.
Being Christ-like is the pinnacle we reach for. That being said, God doesn't call us to be perfect, because let's be honest - that ain't happening. But He does call us to love like He does, forgive like He does, and extend mercy like He does. I challenge all of us as believers to be imitators of Christ - Loving like God does, means meeting people in whatever brokenness they are in, and loving them with an agenda free, pure love that is not tainted with judgement. Let every word and action point to Him. Let us be completely saturated and consumed by our Savior. Our days are numbered. Our lives are short. Our clock is ticking. How will you use your life to glorify His name?
Being Christ-like is the pinnacle we reach for. That being said, God doesn't call us to be perfect, because let's be honest - that ain't happening. But He does call us to love like He does, forgive like He does, and extend mercy like He does. I challenge all of us as believers to be imitators of Christ - Loving like God does, means meeting people in whatever brokenness they are in, and loving them with an agenda free, pure love that is not tainted with judgement. Let every word and action point to Him. Let us be completely saturated and consumed by our Savior. Our days are numbered. Our lives are short. Our clock is ticking. How will you use your life to glorify His name?
Live His Love.
All Star Kid's Preview Day
No comments:
Post a Comment