Sunday, July 20, 2008

Simple Reminders

Probably about a year ago, Pastor Michael used an illustration in the service that has been embedded in my mind ever since. He invited one of his sons up on the stage and had him stand facing a cross. Michael explained to the congregation how much he loved the church and those in the audience that day, but that he would never, NEVER, be able to sacrifice his son for any of us. There was silence, complete silence. I'm sure everyone was thinking of their loved ones and admitting to themselves that no matter the cause, they'd never agree to give up the life of their loved one for anybody.
Although that illustration made me appreciate God's sacrifice of His son, until Levi was born, I don't believe I fully understood that sacrifice. Let me back up and make this perfectly clear, I don't think my mind will ever wrap itself around the sacrifice made or the love that Christ had for us sinners when He chose to lay down His life for us. Now that I'm a parent, I guess I should say I have a greater appreciation of that sacrifice.

Saturday night Levi cried in a different way than he ever has. He stared deep in my eyes and was sobbing, uncontrollable sobbing. Tears were streaming down his face, his lips were quivering, he was more upset than I have yet to experience. I was overwhelmed with emotion while trying to console him. He wasn't hurt or scared, just tired and hungry. We spent the entire day in Charlotte visiting friends and it was well past his bedtime, so he was simply exhausted. Even though I knew he was okay and I knew that within a few moments, I would be able to calm him down, I was devastated to hear him so upset. It was then that I was reminded of the crucifixion of Christ. Matt and I raised the question...how did God give up His only son to be publicly tortured and put to death for us? Levi was crying out to me and all I wanted was to make everything alright. I don't want any pain, embarrassment, harassment, or anything negative to happen to Levi. God loves us so much that, even though we are sinners, He gave his one and only son so that we could spend eternity with Him in heaven. Like I said earlier, I'll never be able to wrap my simple, immature mind around God's love for us. Have you thanked Him today?

"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Romans 5:8 (NLT)

8 comments:

Lindsey Broere said...

I am SO with you...It tears me apart to see another kid push Layla or to see her crying. God' love is a love that I can't even begin to qualify or quantify or anything-i-fy--especially now that I'm a parent. How easy we tend to forget such an amazing sacrifice....

Hope you guys are feeling better.

The Beaver Bunch said...

I think about that sermon a lot as well. Even though it's so easy to see the correlation between our love for our kids and God's love for us, I forget it so quickly, almost daily. I love this video on youtube:

http://youtube.com/watch
?v=m4hxtyH572I

(You'll have to take out the hard return).

Natasha said...

Beth...thank you for the reminder of the tremendous sacrifice that God made...as I scurry around in such a busy world...I need to keep in mind the huge sacrifice that God made so that I will make decisions that please Him...He deserves all that I am. Thanks again for sharing this reminder.

Matt Rollins said...

Yeah, the part that still gives me chills is the screaming out in torture, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani". You know what that means, but I can't gain a human perspective of what God was thinking when Jesus cried out in these words. It would have been a pain that no human could handle though. As always, God saw the bigger picture.

Anonymous said...

Thanks B- while i'm not in your position- I appreciate the reminder. Love you
Miss you

The Beaver Bunch said...

For your scrapblog. First you must publish, then you export it as a jpeg & save to your computer. Then, in your layout options (on blogger) upload it and select the option where it says something like "instead of title and description."

Can't wait to see it!

The Beaver Bunch said...

Oh, and I'm praying for you while Matt's gone. I know you must be a little anxious.

The Beaver Bunch said...

I replied to you on my blog and then realized you may not check the comments again. Anyway, under File choose "Export" and then export it as a jpeg. You'll have to publish it first.

Hope that helps. If not, I'll skype you through it...hehee.