Vast

"How deep the Father's love for us....how vast beyond all measure"

As I take a study break to listen to Owl City's take on this classic song...I have to stop to think about what it's really saying.

God's love is such a puzzling thing isn't it? It literally vast beyond all measure. I mean think of it....think of someone you love with all your heart...your parents, grandparents, husbands, wives, and magnify that to an extent you can't even think of. Yup, that's right...we can't even comprehend how much God loves us. In a society where if we don't know something, we can just google it (or wikipedia) until we get the answer...it's disconcerting to have something we can't figure out. He loves us so stinking much and while we can't understand how much fully we are given a picture of it in Scripture.

God's clue to us as to how much He loves us is given in Jesus. Christ came to be one of us. He lived as a man, experiencing all that it meant to be human. Think for a moment how humbling that had to be for God. Then He really steps up his illustration by allowing Jesus's wounds "to pay our ransom". Now, I'm not a parent, but I have seen my parents in action and others as well...the love between parent and child is one unlike I think I've seen elsewhere in our world. It's something impressive, something selfless...the kind of "I'll do anything to make sure you are ok" type of love.

Hard to imagine such a love turning over a child to be condemned and die a terrible death for guilty people. Everyonce in a while you hear about a parent allowing a child to pay for their crimes, but it's almost impossible to imagine a parent allowing a child to die for something they didn't do. Yet....this is exactly what God did.

"it was our sins that held him there" To top all of this off...Jesus did this very well knowing that the people He was dying for wouldn't be quick to change their acts. How many times on a given day do I still live like I did before Christ changed me? Sin is like running over a skunk at times. Hear me out...you know when you run over a skunk, you go to the car wash and are clean of it...yet sometimes it still stinks...it takes awhile to get that stench out of it.

I believe fully that God completely wipes our slates clean when we ask him to, but the fact is that our stubborn sinful nature makes sure that that "stench" stays around. I'm so thankful that this vast love that God has for us, covers us in spite of this.

Finally, let me close by expanding this one step farther. God's love is so vast that He sends his son to die for those who accept Him. But...his love is also vast enough that He loves those who reject Him. God doesn't make junk in my opinion. That is, that He loves all that He creates regardless of their feelings towards Him.

"I will boast in Jesus Christ" Let's aim to honor God's love for us by making a statement in the way we carry ourselves. May we boast in what Jesus has done for us by the way we live our lives, the way we interact with others, and most of all by the way we interact with a God whose love for us runs deep....real deep.

"Awe"some

Been another long, solid, good chunk of time since a blog entry. I love writing down thoughts but am sorry to say med school has taken over my life. I eat, breathe, and sleep science. Good news is I'm surviving....it's not easy but I'm doing well. There are still days I wonder if this is indeed where God wants me. I have such a desire to go into ministry someday...I'm interested to see how this will all play out someday.

Other big news is that I'm engaged! Yup, pretty excited about it. I thank God for the wonderful opportunity he has given me to marry someone who not only cares about me but cares about Him and the people he has created. I'm looking forward to having a partner on the many adventures that God will take us on.

I also started to help lead a Bible Study down here in the Verm. (Vermillion, SD for the non-SDakotans). It is a book by Francis Chan called Crazy Love. It is a book that challenges us to wake up out of the status quo that is so easy to fall into as Christians.

The first chapter, entitled "Don't Pray" was very challenging. A key chapter of the Bible that it focused on was Isaiah 6. This is a passage in which Isaiah finds himself in the presence of the holy God. I love picturing the mighty seraphin flying around. Six winged creatures sound pretty BA. These creatures simply exist to glorify God. "Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty!" Isaiah is speechless before the throne.

The point Chan brings up and that I find a major challenge for me and others today is that we don't have that Isaiah like awe and wonder before the throne. Think about it, everytime we pray we are stepping into the throne room of God. Yet, if anyone is like me, how often do we have that attitude of total respect and awe for who we are talking to. Now, I'm not saying that every conversation with God needs to be face down and full of "thee" and "thou"'s, but I do think, as Chan points out, we need to keep in mind who we are talking to. It's all about fearing God (no, not the afraid of the dark type fear, but rather a respect for who He is).

I think that once we start doing this, breaking out of the status quo will be easier. God is amazing, no doubt about it. When we realize the magnificience of the person on the other end of our prayers, we will be filled with awe. Pretty "awe"some huh?