The Trip – August 17, 2023

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Romans 8:32

The Trip

When writer Lindsey Lazarte was growing up, she took her father for granted. Because she did, she carried certain attitudes about her dad that were simply wrong. She failed to grasp the profound love he had for her. She resented certain decisions he made for the good of the family. There were even times, she said, when she went out of her way to stir up tensions between herself and him.

Then came the trip to the Philippines, her father’s home. Waiting for them there were her father’s many siblings and a large, extended family. And it was only then—in spending time with them, listening to their stories about her father, seeing him tear up time and again—only then did she begin to realize all he had personally given up in order to provide the chance for a better life for her. After that trip, Lindsey’s view of her father’s love changed forever.

When it comes to our relationship with our heavenly Father, there have been times when you and I have behaved like Lindsey. We have taken him for granted. We have resented what he has allowed—or not allowed—to happen in our lives. The impulses of our old sinful selves have even driven us to distance ourselves from him, to rebel against his will for our lives. For what, to make some statement about our independence? To declare that “no one is the boss of me”? For such moments of betrayal, you and I deserve his abandonment.

But our heavenly Father has not abandoned us. Instead, he calls us to repentance. And to remind us how much he loves us, he invites us on a trip as well—a trip to the cross. For it is there, at the cross, you and I see what God was willing to do to wash us clean and make us his own. There, at the cross, God gave up his own Son to wash our sins away. There, at the cross, the extent of our Father’s love becomes clear once again.

Prayer:
Lord, when the distractions come, take me once again to the foot of the cross. Amen.