Tuesday, April 2, 2013

The Simplicity of His Love

In the dawn of our Savior's resurrection, the world around seems to be birthing new life.  I notice it all around me in ways I haven't before.  The dogwoods and azaleas in our front and back yards are teeming with new life that are just days away from bursting forth with blossoms.  It seems appropriate that even the Earth has waited to bloom after Easter.  What a way to celebrate our Creator.  

This Easter has been especially meaningful this year.  My weekly Bible study, BSF, of Genesis along with watching the Bible series has opened my eyes to see that Christ's death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection was God's plan all along.  God's hand was in every detail, mistake and promise of Genesis.  In the beginning, God was already making arrangements to sacrifice His son to atone for our sins.  Almost every detail in Scripture points to the culmination of the Cross.  Even though the people He created were messing up, He was already preparing a way to save them.  Maybe now that I'm a parent, I realize just a fragment of the sacrifice God made when He allowed His Son to die on a cross for us.  Even more, that He allowed His Son to be born, nursed and raised by the very people who forgot Him, ignored Him, and crucified Him.  It's when the magnitude of this truth settles into my heart that I realize just how simple it all is. 

Peter must have understood this when Jesus beckoned him out of the boat and into the stormy sea in Matthew 14.  And, Peter walked on water as he gazed at Jesus.  I love the immediacy of Peter getting out of the boat to meet Jesus.  He didn't sit and make a "pros" and "cons" list, he didn't ask for the disciples' opinion of whether or not he should meet Jesus, he didn't wait to master his swimming skills, or look up the weather to see when the storm would be over.  He jumped out of the boat to meet His Savior.  And, just like Peter, it's when I take my eyes off Jesus that I sink.  And, I have sunk, will sink and continue to sink as long as I'm on this Earth, but I hope in the wake of Jesus' death and resurrection for me and all of humanity, that if Jesus says, "Come" that I will race to meet Him.  No matter how many times I sink and no matter how many storms there are.  That I will run after Him in impossible situations, in uncomfortable places, or wherever else He may call me. 

The Cross is a beautiful sight, not only because of the love that poured from it but the new life that sprung from it.  And as I watch the world bring forth the blossoms of spring, I am thankful I have a new life in Him.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" - 2 Corinithians 5:17

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine 

- "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)," Hillsong United 

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