Day 16 - As You Find Me (Hillsong UNITED)
“I was found before I was lost. I was yours before I was not. Grace to spare for all my mistakes and that part just wrecks me. And I know I deserve this kind of love somehow. This kind of love is who you are. It’s a grace I could never add up. To be somebody you still want but somehow you love me as you find me.”
To love me as you find me! That is a statement that I find hard to not only comprehend but to accept as truth.
Did you ever run away when you were a child? Maybe you got as far as a couple of blocks before turning back. Maybe you even arrived at your destination (like your grandparent’s house) and realize it wasn’t as exciting or rebellious as you thought it was going to be. Actually, you were quite disappointed.
Maybe you ran away because you no longer wanted to be under the supervision of your parents. You wanted to call the shots and live life your way. To go to bed when you wanted to or to eat whatever you wanted for breakfast on a Saturday morning.
Can you relate even as an adult? I know I can.
Even today, I have that rebellious streak in me. That part of me (called sin) that wants to do its own thing. I think of the Apostle Paul’s words in the book of Romans.
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. – Romans 7:15-19 – (NIV)
I think of the story Jesus tells of the lost son found in Luke 15. You may be familiar with the story. A story about a younger son who recklessly spends his inheritance and finds himself lost and at the end of himself. The story of the son is the story of humanity. The story of me. The story of you.
Here is where the story gets good. The son receives love where he didn’t believe he deserved it. From His father. Here is what the father says,
“His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So, the party began.” – Luke 15:21-24 (NLT)
Did you see those last words from the father? My son was lost, but now he is found. The father accepted the son just as he was and threw a party! Even in the mess! Even when the son made a royal mistake of his life. The Father loved him as he was and threw him a party. How cool is that!
“You loved me as you found me. I was found before I was lost”
Think It Over / Meditate On
Can you think of a time when you felt unworthy of the Father’s love?
How does it make you feel to know that God loves us just as you are?
How can we share that kind of love with those around us?
Listen to this song here: https://youtu.be/V0eXYR65Z2w
Written by Grant Chinn - Families Pastor