I'm sitting here where the creek dances under a rock, and I'm above it, above all of it.
Paper growing wet on this old log, fallen. Little holes in its flesh; I wonder. I wonder if termites make their hiding places here in secret crags. I wonder if woodpeckers used to sink their beaks deep into the bark that's now rotted away. Did the tree know it would fall, where water plays under this rock? Where puddles sleep, I see a worm drowning, and I save it. Us girls gather round for picnics, throwing peanut shells and watching them float away.
Old times, new times, ones I can't see yet. All beautiful and caked with stories and sunshine.
There are old lessons to relearn and remember, new ones to dig up like treasure. And ones in the future I can only dream of.
Today I'm going back, wondering what life is. What it means.
Because we talk so much about what Jesus did, and we grow calloused to it. We talk about His death. It's beautiful. It's amazing.
While we were sinners, Christ died for us. While we were enemies, He chose us.
What story has the hero die for the villain? What type of purpose, meaning, love would that be?
We're all Adam. We've sinned, we've struggled, we used to be enemies. We fought Him, mocked Him as if we were the soldiers that nailed Him to that cross.
He loved anyway.
He died anyway.
But it doesn't stop there. We aren't just saved, reconciled, justified. We're righteous.
God looks at us and sees Jesus.
For if, while we were his enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, how much more surely, having been reconciled, will we experience further salvation through his life?... we also exalt the acts of God.
His death brought us life, and now we reign in that life through Him (Romans 5:17)!
I love that word: reign. It means reigning as a King, exercising that dominion, authority.
With Jesus, you're not just you. He. is. in. you. Everything changes.
So I think of the forests, the water that hides under the rock, the tree fallen so many years ago and now only a rotting stump, and it is beautiful. Jesus died, and that changes my forever. He lives, and I live in Him.
Every moment has a purpose. And we rejoice!
A reminder for me, for you, for today. No matter what you've done, in Christ, you are righteous, pure, spotless. And He wants to live in you, to take over your ordinary life and make it epic.
Surrender. Rest. Abide. Shalom.
And if you need truth reminders, I have freebies from me to you, including bookmarks, posters, and quotes! I've enjoyed designing them and digging through Romans 5, and I hope you can print them out, save them on your device, or dig into Romans yourself to remember who you are and Who He is.
You have a purpose, dear friend.
*hugs*
If, as a result of the one man's offence, death began to hold sway because of that one man, how much more surely will those who now experience this - God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of salvation - come to hold authority in life because of the one man, Jesus the Messiah?
~♥~
Thanks for this reminder, Hosanna! Sometimes I don't really think about how Christ lives in us... But since He does it shapes my perspective of how I look at life. Thanks for sharing! <3
ReplyDeleteYes, Sarah!! The truth of Him living in us changes everything. It's such amazing grace He shows us. ♥
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