Reckless

Have you ever been so obsessed with a song you listen to it over and over again and never get sick of it? You blast it in the car on repeat and sing at the top of your lungs without a care in the world! Well, I have had many of these moments with the very popular worship song by Cory Asbury, “Reckless Love”. 

If you haven't heard it you NEED to hear it! Go right now! (please read my post first ;) )

This song talks about how God’s love for us is so reckless, such a risk, and sometimes just downright ridiculous. I’m not calling God any of these things but I am saying His love for us has many of these characteristics. 

Lately in my prayer time I have found myself asking “God, why do you love me?”. I know this question seems absurd because there are so many reasons in the Bible as to why God loves us. But sometimes I think about all of my broken parts, and the ugliness of my sin and just wonder, how and why does God love me? 

Seeing all that I’ve done and all that I’ve gotten myself into why in the world does the Almighty God, Savior of the world love ME? 

The thing is, it’s not supposed to make sense to us. It’s not to supposed to be so easy to comprehend that we are desensitized to the overwhelming love of our God. The love of the Father will never be something that we can fathom, it is and will be over and over again indescribable.  

God has claimed us as His own. He has made us His sons and daughters. Even through our mess-ups, slip-ups, and times that we've given up God will never stop claiming us! He will never look down on us and disown us. He isn't shocked or disgusted by our sin. Our Father longs to rescue us in the midst of our darkest moments and hold us in His arms. 

A passage from the Bible that I love is in Ezekiel 16. In these verses is a description of how God treats His people after they have been an “unfaithful wife” which is the title of the chapter. The people had been so lost in their sin, but in this passage God describes how He will treat them in the midst of it all. Here’s a part of it:

 “‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine. “‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 16: 8-14

When I first read this I was brought to tears with the love God has for us. Through all the ways we treat Him and run from Him, He still wants to have a beautiful relationship with us. He washes us clean and puts a crown on our heads and declares that we are His children and He is our God. 

There are many times, like I explained earlier, that my flesh has a hard time believing that God still loves me. What’s so heartbreaking is, I know I’m not alone. We have all felt the shame of our sin. Our struggle with sin isn't over and won’t be until we are reunited with our Father. But that doesn't mean we have to walk through life with baggage. I encourage you to throw away the trash bags of shame that you've been carrying. Throw away the guilt from past sin and present sin that is weighing you down and crushing your spirit. 

If you go and read the rest of Ezekiel 16 you will see that even after God dresses the woman in the finest clothes and jewelry she still manages to screw it all up. What is so amazing is that at the end of the chapter after everything has gone way downhill God STILL forgives her. “Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.” (Ezekiel 16: 60) 

In the words of Cory Asbury God’s love for us is “overwhelming, never ending, reckless”. It “chases us down” and fights for us always. There’s no way we could earn it or deserve it yet somehow in all of His grace He smiles on us time and time again.