“At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of Him, giving Him trouble every chance you got.
But now, by giving Himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in His presence.
You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted.
There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.”
Colossians 1:21-23 MSG
Remember playing Hide-and-Go-Seek? Of course, you do. Well, if you’re the one who’s hiding, what if the seeker didn’t look for you and just left you in your hiding place…never sought after…never to be found?
Thankfully, God is NOT like that! He seeks you. He goes after you. He wants you to come out of hiding. He wants to give you a marvelous free gift…His Son, Jesus! He WANTS to find you and will look for you until you are safe in His family…forever! What a gift!!
Then why do so many of us hide from Him? He knows all we have done, and quite frankly, all we are gonna do. And He has already provided a permanent solution! The death of His Son, Jesus…the perfect sacrifice for our yuck, our putridness, our hiding, our staying-in-the-dark thinking we are okay. We have already been brought over to God’s side…so why do we walk away from a gift like that?
Sadly, we get used to running from God, turning our backs on Him, thinking rebellious thoughts of Him and giving Him trouble every chance we get. We get programmed to think that no one would seek after a person that has been so in-your-face defiant to them…or would they?
God would. Has. And does. Period. It’s a free gift to accept. One Message. He seeks and saves the lost, the hiding, the belligerent, and the spit-in-His face people. That’s you. That’s me.
And all of us get the same Message. A Message of hope, redemption, and freedom from hiding. A Message of belonging.
Thanks, God for doing it all for me. I accept your gift of Jesus…the One who gives me life. Even when I didn’t want to be found, you shed your light into my dark hiding place. No more games. I trust you. Help me to stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust.
