March 31, 2019 Lent Daily Devotional: Amazing Love, How Can It Be...

 

Amazing Love, How Can It Be...

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~ ROMANS 5:8 (NIV)

One afternoon my husband showed me a YouTube video of the Newsboys’ song “You are My King” (Amazing Love). He warned me in advance that it might bring tears to my eyes. That was an understatement.

The video accompanying the music was from the movie directed by Mel Gibson, The Passion of the Christ. I had read about the brutality of scourging and crucifixions, and it is horrible to think about. However, seeing it depicted in such realistic terms brought the reality of the pain endured by Christ on the cross to a whole new level.

I need this visual reminder every so often when I start to take for granted the grace that has been extended to me, or when I fail to understand the message of 1 Corinthians that I have been “bought at a price.” My sins are not minor, no matter how insignificant they may seem to me. My sins have forced my God to endure extreme physical pain to reconcile my relationship with Him. To borrow from a hymn by Charles Wesley,“Amazing love! How can it be that thou my God should die for me?”*

Thank you, my Lord and my God. May I never trivialize your sacrifice as I will literally be eternally grateful for your suffering and death on the cross.

SYLVIA GRUBER

*And Can It Be That I Should Gain, Charles Wesley (1738)