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'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus

You could pick bones with the statement, "It's not a religion, it's a relationship." In fact, evangelicalism gets hammered for being like an overwrought Manilow record all the time. On the other hand, Christianity is a relationship with a divine Person, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, who took on flesh.

I won't hector you with thoughts about sacred music and goodness of form; you can find others to do that for you. But one thing missing (other than empathy) in the discussion of much-maligned "Jesus is my boyfriend" songs is that we don't have better analogies for just how much God loves us in Christ. You can hardly blame folks for trying. They say analogies break down. No kidding. I hope so.

The first thing you feel when you realize Jesus loves you personally is complete unworthiness. Well, yes. Have you ever been truly thankful for something you were owed? It's completely absurd in its goodness, the whole story. We read that Jesus turned His enemies into friends and brethren. This would be like two sides signing an armistice to end a war, and then the losing side joins up with its former adversary to fight someone else entirely, and as if the first war never happened. Take a moment to reflect on that. We have become too familiar with things that are jarring, shocking, and otherwise inexplicable.

May our joyful surprise at God's mercy not overwhelm us, but may we overflow with love for others.
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