I
used to love watching Popeye the Sailor
Man when I was a kid. If you’ve
never watched it, check it out sometime … no doubt it’s available online. One thing I could never understand is what he
saw in Olive Oyl. Seriously. Not only was she the epitome of unattractive
(in my not particularly humble opinion), but she always played
hard-to-get.
What I thought must have
been so difficult for poor Popeye (yeah, it’s pretty stupid to me, too, that I feel
bad for a cartoon … but I have to make my point somehow) was not knowing
whether Olive cared and was just playing the hard-to-get card to keep Popeye
honest, or whether she really didn’t care at all and was just biding her time
until someone else (like Bluto) came along.
Dang, the confusion and head games that Popeye had to battle with!
Unlike
people, God never plays hard-to-get.
Quite the opposite. As I went
through my Old Testament reading plan this week (through Deuteronomy 21 – 27,
Psalms 24 – 30, and 1 Chronicles 23 – 29), one passage among many helped me see
this point. It might not be obvious on
the face of the passage, but allow me to expound on it a bit more. First, Psalm 24:3-6 says …
Who may climb the mountain of
the Lord? Who may stand in his holy
place? Only those whose hands and hearts
are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and
have a right relationship with God their savior. Such people
may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob.
On
first pass, this passage may seem like anything but an easy route to God. The bar looks in fact like it’s set quite
high. Who may approach God … have
fellowship with Him? Those whose hands
are “pure” and whose hearts are “pure”.
I don’t know about you, but neither my hands nor my heart could be
characterized as pure. In other words,
at some point in my life … maybe even recently … I’ve done, thought, or felt
something that was outside of the will of God or His holy standard for my life.
Have I worshipped idols or told
lies? Guilty as charged. And yes, I know I am not alone in this. We’re all guilty.
So
what’s the big deal? We’re all messed
up, so what does it matter? Aren’t we
all therefore just on the same level ground together? Yes, we are.
But that is where the tragedy lies, because in this level ground we all lose out on what we would
otherwise qualify for before our Lord … His “blessing” and a “right
relationship with God [our Savior].”
But,
this is where the love of our God shines brightest. Even while staring in the face of this high …
and humanly-speaking impossible to reach … standard, God loves us. By sending His Son Jesus, He showed us just how
much He loves us.
None
of us can climb the mountain of the Lord … none of us can stand in His holy
place. None of us have hands and hearts
that are pure … they all worship idols and all tell lies. But Jesus died for us because He couldn’t
live without us. That is, God’s heart is
so desirous of fellowship with us, and so full of love for us, that He didn’t
want us to miss out on His blessing and a right relationship with Him. None of us qualify to seek Him and worship in
His presence, so by Jesus’s laying down His life and becoming the bridge to the
Father, we can enjoy that fellowship.
The
point is, God doesn’t play hard-to-get.
He makes His love for us as plain as day, as obvious as the daytime
sun. Some in society are loathe to
accept that there is only one way to God … I see it as at least God provided
that Way. He could just as easily have
not, and let us all fall by the wayside by virtue of our obvious
unworthiness. Instead, He didn’t play
hard-to-get and keep us guess whether He loves us or not, He plays easy-to-get,
allowing all who call upon Him to have the loving and intimate relationship He
so wants with us.
So
the next time you are tempted to wonder if God really cares … just think of
Jesus. Think of the lengths God went to
reach you. If we looked to qualify on
our own, by virtue of the qualifications of Psalm 24, we would fail and fail
huge. We couldn’t make it on our best
day … or in our best five minutes.
When
Jesus surrendered His life (he wasn’t killed, he gave his life up freely), He
was thinking of you (and me). Your (and
my) name was on his mind. There’s no
guessing … God SO LOVED you (and me) that He gave His only Son to die for us
(John 3:16). There’s no easier love to
see, no easier love to experience, no easier love to accept, no easier love to
enjoy.
Let’s
ask God this week to remind us the lengths He went for each of us
individually. Let’s think specifically
of the ways we don’t qualify on our own, and then let’s think of Jesus bridging
the gap for us. Let’s acknowledge His
loving sacrifice and give Him our praise the gift He gave us.
God
does NOT play hard-to-get, so let’s thank Him for being easy-to-get.
Blessings,
MR
Well said!
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