See Him!

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are...
I John 3:1

from Elyse Fitzpatrick's Comforts from the Cross:

"The story of redemption is, in its purest form, a love story, but it's a love story unlike anything you could ever imagine. It's the story of God's love for you, but this love isn't just a sweet sentiment inscribed on a greeting card destined for next week's garbage bin. It's deeper and richer, and honestly a bit frightening. It's love that is willing to afflict itself and its beloved for a greater good...

...Fierce love pours from the tip of the pen of John, the apostle of love. "See what kind of love the Father has given to us," he proclaims, "that we should be called children of God" (I John 3:1). Likely you are familiar with the truth John points out here, but let me encourage you to push past detached facts, which can anesthetize the soul, to hear this breathtaking message. Picture him jumping up and down, waving his arms, seeking to awaken us from our stupor, while we muse, "Oh, yes, God's love...la la la...I'm His child. Isn't that nice," and then sink back into our comfy recliner, revisiting fantasies of how pleasant our lives would be if Santa really did visit us this year. "No, no! You're missing it!" he would be yelling. "This love is the most important thing about you; it changes and will change everything!"

...Shake off your boredom and apathy. God's love for you is fierce, self-afflicting, white-hot, life-transforming. The goal of this love is that you may be called God's daughter, God's son. All this pain and grief is bent in on one primary goal: your adoption and His eventual praise. Your relationship with the Creator of all there is has been secured in the blood and tears of love's delight. Your Father is no longer far off, no longer a stranger, no longer a judge. Now He's your Father! John wants us to see that we are called God's children because we are his children, even now...

..."Wake up!!" John is saying. "See His adopting love!!" John directs our gaze to this love because only a fierce meditation on our adoption in Christ will breed the courageous zeal necessary in our war for purity. John writes, "Everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself." (I John 3:3)

So much of our lives as Christians is spent in futile doubt, weak questionings, and apathetic, self-serving strategies. In part, we fail in our war for purity because we spend too much time meditating on ourselves, our work, our growth. We have little hope for change because our hope is grounded in ourselves, in how we're doing, in whether God is proving His love by granting us every trifling desire or delivering us from heartbreaking trial. We've been deceived into believing that His love is passe, something we've already comprehended. It bores us. John's message, through the Spirit of the living Christ, calls to you today: "SEE!!"

See Him. See what your adoption cost Him. See His commitment to His family, to you. Steep your soul in the warmth of His desire to have you for His own, and after you have done that, pursue the purity that is a mark of this fierce love."

Father,
I'll admit that Your love both bores me and frightens me. I mistakenly think that I understand it, so I skim over it as if it were yesterday's headlines. But sometimes it breaks through and I begin to see what it's really like and I'm terrified, so I run from You. I numb my soul to its influences through futile amusements and self-assuring good deeds. I rarely start my day with the thought, "My Father, who art in heaven." Please forgive me for this and for neglecting what Your adoption of me really means. I've taken this truth for granted and resisted Your Fatherly intrusion into my life because I haven't trusted the goodness of Your love. Please open my eyes and grant me grace to see You, Your love, the security of my place in You, and the inevitability of my complete transformation, and then give me grace to draw near to You for strength to war against our enemies.