Lost the wonder
Somehow, I got talked into helping with the children at my church.
It’s weird in itself because I never really wanted kids. But God
can take you in strange directions. So, my wife and I now help on
Wednesday nights. The kids have been memorizing two verses.
Ephesians 2:8-9
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t
take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward
for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
I’ve been thinking about these verses for a few weeks now. Over
the years I think Christians sing and talk about salvation and the grace of God
and I think sometimes we lose the wonder and awe of it all. There was
nothing we could do to save ourselves from sin. We could never be good
enough and we were enemies of God. I watched a video a few days ago and
Charlie Kirk was talking to this young lady who was convinced she had no soul.
We all have an eternal soul and the free will to choose God or reject Him.
There are people out there who are so confused and need God so badly.
Sometimes as Christians we forget how wonderful our salvation is and how
much those around us need God. People need God to change them, and we
need to recapture the wonder and share the love of God. There’s a book
that became a movie called Ready Player One and I’ve been asked why I never
watched the movie. My reason is this. There was a chapter in the
book that depicts the main character completely rejecting God. That broke
my heart. I have sat and listened to people I work with at various jobs
talk about rejecting the existence of God and it is heartbreaking. If you
go back and read the account in Exodus where Moses goes to Pharaoh and asks him
to let the Israelites go it says Pharaoh hardened his heart. Then you get
to the last time Moses shows up and it says, “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.”
God gave him so many chances to change and do the right thing. It’s
scary to realize God will give us so many chances and then simply leave us to
our own choices. God will at various times in our lives let us see the
weight of our sin and give us chances to seek him.
Romans 5:8 to me has always been one of the greatest examples of
God’s love and mercy.
“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us
while we were still sinners.”
We were at war with God. If you are a Christian just sit and
remember the awe and wonder that verse shows you. Absolutely nothing we
could do to save ourselves it is all a gift from God because of his love for
us.
Don’t reject God but seek Him while you still can.
Geoff Moore and Charlie Peacock said it best in the song Aware of
Wonder
“It is a wonder, a wonder
I live in wonder, amazed at all
You’ve done for me
How can it be?
It is a wonder, a wonder
I live in wonder
This is the greatest mystery
Your love for me, it is a wonder.
All I cannot see
I will still believe
It drives me to my knees.”
God’s love humbles us and leaves us in awe and wonder.
I haven’t done this in a few years but humor me. At least once
this week I challenge you to sit down and read the words to the hymn Amazing
Grace and think about the words.
Aware of Wonder by Geoff Moore and the Distance
Wonder of it all by Point of Grace
Hallelujah by Tenth Avenue North
