“I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Narazene, and wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean.”

Some songs I just can’t shake. That old hymn above is one of them. As I sing or hum it, I am reminded that there was a time that I took for granted how much God loved us, how much Christ did to reconnect us with the Father. For many years, I accepted God’s gift of salvation, but I did not appreciate it, did not understand that God offers us more than eternal salvation upon death, that He offers us abundant life here on earth too!

You see, the grace that we receive through Christ’s sacrifice isn’t a one time deal – a truth that I’m very thankful for; it’s a time and time again promise. I gave my heart to Christ years ago, but I also spent many years not following Him very well. I may have checked “Christian” on my medical forms, but I wasn’t presenting my life as a “little Christ”. I was living for myself and doing a fine job of mucking things up.

Even now, as I endeavor to follow Christ closely and love as He loved, give as He gave, speak as He spoke, walk as He walked, I sometimes misstep or the world’s influence slips out of my mouth or I become lazy in my convictions. In short, though I try my hardest not to, I still sin sometimes. We all do no matter how hard we try.

And yet though I sin daily in some way, I do not live my life in fear of damnation nor do I need to try to hide my many flaws and faults from the Lord. Not only can I not hide them from our all knowing Creator, but He doesn’t want me to hide them from Him – He wants me to show them to Him and repent so I can be forgiven and cleansed and redirected in the way I should go (John 1:9, Psalm 103:3, Proverbs 3:5-6).

Sweet friend, Christ died for all the sins of all the people – not just those we committed before we give our lives to Him, but also those we commit after (1 Peter 3:18, Hebrews 10:12). He loves us all the time – no matter how often we disappoint. To clarify, that’s not a blank check to go on living a life a sin. Not at all. Quite the opposite actually.

His Word tells us that we are called to freedom, not to continue living in sin, but to serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13). God can set us free of fear, doubt, lust, envy, greed, pride, selfishness, judgement, condemnation, and a thousand other burdens if we allow Him to work in us, transform us into who He made us to be (Jeremiah 1:5, 29:11).

I am thankful that salvation is granted through who He is and not what I’ve done, through what He’s done and not who I am. His grace knows no bounds. His forgiveness has no strings (John 3:16, Romans 5:8). He never tires of us or our questions. Nothing we do can make Him love us more or less because His love for us is infinite.

As we continue through Holy Week toward Easter Sunday, I encourage you to meditate upon the love of the Father toward us and the way Christ made for us. Study His Word. Sing His praises. He loves you as you are. He’s on deck to show you the way to all He has promised. Let Him reign in your heart and your life. It’s the best decision you’ll ever make.