reckless

Reckless.

what a word.

it seems like a word that is never afraid. it is a risk taker; an asset to living the dangerous life. if i needed a word to describe someone who jumps into action without thinking of the outcome,recklessmight be a good choice. however aside from all the non thinking, it describes God so well.

most of us have heard the song “Reckless love”. (yes i know it’s overplayed) but there’s so much more in the words than we think. there’s so much to learn from God in just the verses of the song itself, so i kinda want you to hear it from a new perspective.

‘Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God’

it’s crazy to think of something ongoing...like how do you even wrap your mind around something that has no beginning or end. His love fights for us, even leaves the pack to search for us wandering in the sins and havoc of the world.

‘it chases me down, fights ‘til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine’

there was a time when my family was in Orlando for family vacation at disney. we were at a hotel for a dinner one night, and right when we were leaving some of us went to the bathroom. i was only around nine years old at the time, and when we walked out to leave i realized we were missing my sister, Hannah. so we turned around and went back to the bathroom expecting we had left her there. however, once we made it, we realized she was no where in sight. Hannah was only seven, so my worst fear was someone had kidnapped her and I’d never see her again. Hannah was my BEST friend, and losing a best friend was unimaginable. i started crying, searching, hoping, praying we would find her. even some of the staff was on it too. finally my dad found her in the massive hotel lobby, listening to the live music, bouncing like nothing was wrong. i gave her the biggest hug and i told my mom i wanted her to sleep with me that night because i wanted to keep her safe. that’s exactly how God is for us. He chases us down because He can’t bear to lose us...we are too important to Him. often we are like Hannah, naïve and unaware at the cost our Father is going for us to be found. However, one day we look back and realize all the incredible lengths He has gone for us, and that’s when we put our trust in Him.

‘I couldn’t earn it’

i could never earn His love by anything. i’m not worth it. like so many times we try to do good things but how could our petty little works ever be equivalent to His?!? how could our actions somehow ever match up to God’s? how could our lives EVER measure up to be as great as Jesus’ while on earth?!? never. ever.

‘and I don’t deserve it’

i don’t deserve anything God has given me. many times i think back to those “oopsy” moments where i messed up pretty bad, then i will compare it to everything i’ve had the opportunity to experience and it never adds up. one of those times was in the 5th grade on the night of a basketball game i wanted to go to. my mom told me to change shirts before i left, and i wasn’t having it. so to be fair, she said i couldn’t go unless i changed my shirt. i was having a rough day and started screaming and yelling about how i shouldn’t have to change my shirt to go to a game. she saw how i overreacted, and told me i was going to just have to stay at home with her. i was so mad i ran upstairs and kicked the cd player pretty hard. yup. gotta love that memory. anyways, sometimes when i’m thinking about God’s love, and how much He loves me i start to compare my “oopsy” moments to how far He has gone to love me. like God died on the cross for some girl who kicked a cd player in 5th grade? and He did so much more. He created a way for people to live forever with Him no matter who they are. He looks at us and sees that we are created in His image. we are like Him. and instead of focusing on the awful things we’ve done, He sees our talents, our personalities, everything that makes us unique that He made for us, and says, “i want you”. He even sees all the negatives, but still chooses us. He wants us. does He need us? absolutely not. but He wants us. cd player kickers and all.

‘still, You give Yourself away’

God gave us the best gift imaginable- His only son. because of His son we can live forever. i went to this pretty cool camp called winshape in the 6th grade. that year i didn’t like one of the skill classes they put me in so they let me switch to basketball the second day, which i didn’t love the idea of, but it sounded way better than the dance class i was in... so i went with it. the leader in charge really seemed to like me on the first day and went out of his way to make me feel welcome in the group of 30+ kids. it seemed like everyday he did something small to be nice, like taking my bag for me, or cheering for me in a game, or just talking to me to be friendly. i watched him with other kids and he kinda did it with them, but it wasn’t the same. the very last day we were playing a four way basketball game for the parents to watch and he started dividing up the teams. i noticed as the kids starting going to their teams that i was one of the last ones left. it got down to two of us and he told the other kid which team to go to. then it was just me and him. i’ll never forget what he said to me. “bethany, i wantyouto pick what team to go on. pick a team that they’ll pass you the ball, but pick fast because we need to start.” i kinda froze. out of the thirty something kids he chose me to get the special privilege. i chose my team and we played the last game. i don’t remember much after that. i was big on writing letters that year and had written a thank you note for him that i gave as i was leaving. when i told him it was his, he looked at me like he was going to cry. he thanked me, but i’ll never forget his face expression. it was like he was proud, or maybe just really thankful. looking back now i realized the reason he did those special favors for me was because he wanted me to know what it meant to be loved, to be a servant. he always was saying “let me serve you”. he was one of those leaders i’ve never forgotten because he wasn’t just there volunteering, he was there serving us, pouring into our lives, and showing us how to be a leader. he gave up a lot to devote his summer to be with a bunch of complaining kids every week. he was truly showing God in those moments, and serving others is exactly what Jesus does. He pours and pours into us, giving away all that He is so we can be who He made us to be. He gave himself away so we can learn to do the same thing for others.

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God loves us so much. He wants us, He is reckless for me and for you. He has put everything on the line in order to let you decide your fate. i know what i pick. eternity with someone like Him sounds amazing. 1 John 4:16 says, “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” ‭‭‬ ‭by living in God, we can have that same reckless mentality for loving others. we should strive to serve them with everything we have. love others. live for God. be reckless in your walk of life. it’s exactly what Jesus wants for us.