Rip a Band-Aid from a wound, and we scream in pain. Rip a child from our heart, and it hurts even worse. Ask these people:
- Boxer Mike Tyson’s four-year-old daughter was found tangled with a cord attached to a treadmill.
- Actor Charlie Chaplin lost his first son at three days old.
- Actor Paul Newman’s son? Drug overdose at 28.
- Singer Marie Osmond lost her son to suicide.
- Actor Keanu Reeves…stillborn daughter.
- Actress Mary Tyler Moore’s only son died of an accidental gunshot wound.
- Comedian Lou Costello of Abbott and Costello fame lost his young son in the family pool.
We can't imagine what each of these people went through. Do we wonder why God tries so hard to draw us back to him?
John 3:16 tells us that God was filled with so much love for the world that he took the one thing he loved most, his Son, and offered him to us for our salvation.
Jesus was ripped from the heart of God, and yet we fail to appreciate God’s pain.
We’re also the children of the almighty God. Genesis 2:7 tells us he formed us from the dust of the ground, and that it’s his breath breathed into our nostrils that makes us into living creatures.
When we chase after the things of this world, and we deny the power of God, we’re ripping God’s treasure from his heart. He hurts, just as we do when we lose a natural-born child.
That’s why we read in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us. He will clear the slate of our wrongdoing, and we will once again stand pure next to him.
God wants us next to him. It’s not a mystery. We’re his children, and his arms are opened wide, constantly calling, and always loving us, even though we do not know him.
Titus 3:3 nails humanity on the head, telling us we once were foolish, slaves to passion and pleasures, and hating one another. 2 Timothy 3:10-17 starts with the word “however,” for in spite of our foolishness, when we turn to God, the Lord rescues us.
Philippians 3:7-9 sums up what draws us to God, and God to us:
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ…in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him…”
We can’t bring our children back when they’ve been permanently taken from us, but we can return to life in Christ the King. That’s all God wants, for us to once more be one with him, his child forever to the end of all time.
When we place our hand in God’s hand, he will draw us home.
Copyright © 2015 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.B.14.15.vp.esv