Children of a Living God

Sometimes I ask God, “Why do You love me?” I ask Him this because it blows my mind that a perfect, holy, sovereign Person could love someone like me. I am selfish, an idolater, a hypocrite. I lie. I am a murderer, a respecter of persons, an adulterer. What did Jesus say? If I have broken the law in just one point, I have transgressed the entire law. And it is so true. I am inefficient, absent-minded, and undisciplined. Forget undisciplined—I am just downright lazy. I am arrogant, stuck-up, prideful, conceited. I am defensive, quick to become angry, and slow to admit when I am wrong. I am hateful and a murmurer. I am all these things and more and yet, He loves me. WHY?!

And He asked me, “Why do you love your children?” Mmm. Talk about a lynchpin. God loves me because I am His child. In fact, He loves me even more than I could love my own children because His love is perfect. Though my children make mistakes and though, at times, they are rebellious to my authority, I still love them. Though sometimes my children upset me and say things that hurt and disappoint me, I still love them. When my children make bad decisions (and, let’s face it, sometimes they screw up royally), yet I love them. They are mine. Their very mannerisms and quirks reflect me. Their DNA is laced with my own. They are a part of me; I cannot disavow them. To do so would be to reject a part of myself. It is the same with God. We are a part of Him. He has made us in His own image! We reflect Him, the Sovereign God of the universe! Can I just say, HALLELUJAH!

Before my children were born, before they were even conceived in my womb, I looked forward to their birth. I anticipated their existence. I couldn’t wait to have children. Before my kids were, I loved them. It is the same with God and us. Before we ever existed in our mother’s womb, He loved us. He looked forward to our arrival. He couldn’t wait to create us, His children. The bible even says that before He formed us in the womb, He knew us (Jeremiah 1:5).

What would I do for my children? Almost anything I would do for my children I can parallel with that which God, our Father, would do (and does) for us. I teach my children and discipline them when they go astray. I nurture my children; I make sure they eat properly. I keep my children clean and clothed. I don’t buy my children everything they want because I know it is not good for them to have all that they want; however, occasionally, when I know there is something that they would really like to have, I give it to them. I give it to them because it blesses my heart to see them happy. I want my children to be happy. When my children are sick, I nurse them back to health. Whenever my children are in pain, I am in pain. I would gladly take their pain unto my self and bear it for them—gladly. I would even die for them. So great is my love for my children. And so great is God’s love for us. He does all these things for us and more.

We are greatly blessed with God as our Father. A better father cannot be found anywhere, not even in the imagination. Paralleling my relationship to my children with God’s relationship to His children gives a whole knew meaning to the verse, “We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19