I wonder what the apostle Paul was thinking when he wrote these words in Romans. I wonder if he stopped, put his head down, and thanked the Lord. I wonder if he burst into tears (we do know that he got emotional sometimes). I wonder if he, for the rest of the day, just pondered these words. I’ve read them a thousand times, but I was stuck on them this morning. These words in Romans speak of our Father’s GREAT love for us.
Since God did not spare His own Son for our salvation, our redemption, why do we ever think He would spare anything else for us? Since God sent His beloved Son to be a sacrifice for us, why is that not enough for us? In fact, His love was so GREAT that He poured out everything He has… He poured out ALL His love, ALL His grace, ALL His goodness, ALL His mercy. He NEVER holds anything back from us. I can’t fathom that, can you?
If that’s true, then why do we look for affirmation from others? Why do we continue to look for love in the wrong places? Why do we keep struggling with our past mistakes and failures? Why are we still bound up in chains? Why is God’s love not enough for us? God did not spare even His own Son for our freedom, so why are we not walking in complete freedom? Maybe it’s because we have not responded the way we should.
How do we respond to this GREAT love? We go ALL IN… we pour out ALL our love, ALL our faithfulness, ALL our devotion, ALL our obedience to Him. Here’s the thing, though… we often reciprocate with only part. It’s like we are playing hokey pokey with our Christian life. We put just our right foot in. We put just our left arm in. But we stop short of the last stanza… I put my whole self in and I shake it all about, I do the hokey pokey and I turn myself around. That’s what it’s all about. We hold back some. Isn’t half-heartedness the same as being lukewarm? Remember… Jesus told the church at Laodicea that because they were like lukewarm water, he would spit them out of his mouth (Revelation 3:16).
Since God didn’t spare anything for us by sending His precious Son to take our place, let me encourage you to not spare anything either. I’m jumping ALL in. Will you join me?