Why I Am the Way I Am

Every think about what makes you tick? What's the driving force in your life? I'm happy to say that my husband--wonderful as he is--is not what makes me tick. Neither are my adorable kids. I don't get my fulfillment from changing diapers, making meals, and keeping a clean house (I'd be unfulfilled, indeed!), but from something infinitely more.

I'm about to share with you something I haven't yet shared on my blog here, at least not purposefully and in detail. It's the story of how God chose me to be in His family, paid a steep price for my ransom, and then wooed me until I could resist Him no longer. Ready?

God Chose Me
We'll have to go back to eternity past, when there was nothing but God. And thousands upon thousands of years ago, God knew me. He knew everything about me. And yet He loved me. He knew, even before I was born, that He wanted to adopt me into His family. Oh, it wasn't because He knew what a gem I would be! (snort!) It was simply because God, by His very nature, IS love.

The Big Problem
But there would be difficulties with that, because God is perfect, and I am not. Much as God loves me, He can not allow me, with my sin, to have a relationship with Him, or enter into Heaven one day. In fact, not only could God not allow me into heaven, but I must pay for my sin, forever, in hell! Now this, oh this is a dilemma! What could God possibly do? He can not deny His holiness. But He also can not stop loving me. It seems an impossible predicament with a certain, hopeless end--I have sinned against a holy God, and I must pay. It's only fair, right?

A Steep Ransom

But God knew there was a way. Only one way. He would send His only Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth... to do everything I could not. I could not live a life without sin. Jesus Christ did it in my place. I could not pay the death-price for my sin. Jesus Christ did it in my place. He lived a perfect, sinless life--a life of infinite value. And then,

He willingly paid the penalty for sin...MY sin. Death. On a cross. The most agonizing and humiliating of deaths. And because He had lived a life of infinite value, He was also able to die a death of infinite value.* God's justice had been satisfied, and yet there was now a way of escape. And all for me!

(*Icing on the cake: Jesus didn't stay dead, but God raised Him to life again!)

~~~What a gift! What a merciful God!~~~

Courtship & Romance

Startling though it may be, God has to persuade folks to accept His gift! Sad, isn't it? But ever the longsuffering One, He gently tugged at my heart, reminded me of His love, of my need for Him. He caused me to think on what life would be like without Him... futile, empty, worthless. And He used the truth of His written Word, The Bible. This is the way in which God graciously draws us to Himself. It seemed almost like a divine courtship: I skirted around His entreaties, avoided Him when He called me, and toyed with the idea... until finally I couldn't resist any longer. It's so simple, really. Even a child can come to Christ for forgiveness and cleansing. In fact, for many it's helpful to use the ABC acronym, both for understanding, and for an aid in prayer.

A-- Accept the fact that you are sinner. "Dear God, I know that I have sinned...

B-- Believe that Jesus died in your place. "... I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross in my place, for my sin...

C-- Confess your need for forgiveness. "...Please forgive me of my sin and make me one of your own!"

And this, dear friends, is why I am the way I am! This is what makes me tick! I have been on the receiving end of God's mercy. How can I live for anything or anyone except Him?!

God extends His free gift of salvation to anyone who asks.

Have you?

I'd love to hear about it!