The Gift

John 3 For God so loved....that He gave.

The greatest gift ever given to me was my salvation; given through faith in His sacrificial death as punishment for my sin. No doubt about that.

But today I am grateful for the gift that has changed so much for me since then. And that is this...that for a moment God allowed me to feel the weight of that sin. My sin.

Some people come to Christ and they are basically "good" people. They are not murderers or arsonists, they are not adulterers or ex cons. They were born into a sin nature and after receiving Christ they go on to live a life that is devoted to Him.

I wonder what it must feel like to be "that person".

Do they know how blessed that are to be free of the tortured memories that I have? To be free of carrying the burden of a lifetime of failures. Sin as black as hell itself. Betrayal. Lust. Addiction. Abandonment. Abuse.

Sometimes I question how the Lord would ever want someone like me. And then I go back and read the gospels. Jesus specialized in people just like me. The leper. The blind. The tax collector. The adulteress. The thief. The possessed. Those who desperately NEEDED a saviour. Those beyond redemption, beyond therapy, beyond hope.

And what does He do? He becomes sin for us and He becomes our good. He loves so much that He gives....Salvation. Hope. Laughter. Tears. A voice. A new song. A new heart. A changed life.

He loves us where He finds us. He loves us too much to leave us that way. He loves us enough to make us like Him. And that love compels me.

Philippians 1 And I am SURE of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.