Mark Buckle muses on God's unrelenting love.
A man pulls into a service station on his way to work.
He is already running late but he simply must have his newspaper to read at smoko time.
Inside his ashtray he knows there is exactly $1.20 in change.
It is winter and still dark. As his fingers feverishly scramble around the confines of the ashtray, he is annoyingly aware of the seconds ticking by that are making him late for work. He must have his newspaper. He knows the correct change is there. As yet he only holds $1 in his palm, but 20c is there somewhere. He will not relent.
He is certain it is there as it was put there for this very purpose. He will find it and he will use it. Between finding and spending is this period of unrelenting activity. The boss' reprimand when he gets to work is a deferred thought until this goal is reached.
He pulls into his park at work with the newspaper on the passenger seat beside him. Yes, he is late, but he will have something to read at smoko when the boss' anger is a dimming discomfort.
If you are an employer, perhaps you would not want to employ this man! If you were someone searching for purpose and meaning in life, perhaps you would be encouraged if you knew there was a Creator who was just as sacrificially unrelenting about finding you.
Should we use just 20c as an analogy for a human soul?
Does it seem too cheap?
There have been far too many moments recently and historically where 20c was rather more than the value of a human's life.
But how much does God value your human soul?
This could be a laborious topic for theologians and philosophers to chew over.
However, the biblical act of love demonstrated in the birth and life of Christ is profoundly simple. It is one of "the Shepherd" becoming "the sacrifice Lamb" for the sake of the flock.
God, the Creator, became a part of His creation to demonstrate and release His unrelenting love. So, as many say, where is this love in the world?
It is found in the evidences of a God who relentlessly searches for every lost sheep.
He knows you are there, obscured by a world that can appear purely physical. You might remain "hidden" but that does not stop Him searching for you unrelentingly. Searching ...
for you are lost to His eternal purpose. How many only come to acknowledge and enjoy the knowledge and relationship with their Maker late in life?
Some people grow up with this knowledge or belief. Some are poor examples of possessors of such knowledge, if they possess it at all! Many discover it in their teen or young adult years. A few remain hidden to it until their latter years and still some are never found!Nevertheless, God's love searches unrelentingly for you.
It may be in the beauty of our natural world that He reaches for you. It may be in the story of a friend who believes; perhaps in circumstances that are simply designed to make you stop and think, "Perhaps there is a God?"
There are multiple ways God seeks lives "hidden" from His ever-present love. But, above all the distractions is the story of His great intervention into a world He created, the world that rejected Him. This is the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
This is a story of association with humanity, a story of sacrifice and passion. This is a story of victory and hope, rather than one of judgement and condemnation.
How we misunderstand God when we assume we can think like Him. A creation that rejected its Creator rightfully deserves a stern judgement. But God's love is not our right but an undeserved privilege, for it is unrelenting, yet uncompromising. We accept it or reject it.
While you have breath, he will not relent until you are found ...
if you would be restored!Perhaps this little article could serve as "the sweep of His finger" as He searches for you who are destined to be found?
You are created by God and you matter to Him.
- Mark Buckle is the pastor at Church on Stafford.
