Tuesday, January 18, 2011

God loves sinners

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy mid-January! Ok, well it's rainy, cold, foggy, and the temps have risen all the way to 38 degrees today in lovely Indiana, so it's a little harder to be happy. I heard recently that the saddest day of the year is January 15th. That's when the bills starting coming in from Christmas, no more holiday get togethers, it's cold and nasty outside, and everyone has the winter blues. So I've been a little more focused on praying for joy this month, because I'm always one to fight the "going" trends especially negative ones. I guess I want to prove them all wrong or something like that. And I have so much to be thankful for, how can I not have joy?

I was watching one of those shows where they give away a house to a family, and the sister of the recipient said it had been a long time since she'd seen her sister really smile like that. She said, "She's happy all the time and always smiling, but this is a cheeks cracking, face splitting in two kind of happy." I want that kind of joy all the time, and I know we don't always live on those highs. But I can still be overflowing with that kind of joy. After all, God loved ME, a sinner!

Over Christmas, Robbie created a mini-home theater in our loft area, and we have enjoyed watching all of our favorite Christmas movies up there. Do you remember the part in Polar Express when Santa comes out and all the elves go crazy? The noise is deafening. It's just like a roar of millions. (Side bar: Robbie loves that part with his new sub-woofer, because it makes you feel the roar in your heart.) I was thinking about that noise and where else would that be heard. You know that when a sinner turns their life over to Christ, all of Heaven rejoices. Imagine Michael and Gabriel hi-fiving each other, and all the cherubs singing out. There could be millions there. We don't know. But I bet the sound is a little like that deafening roar. After all, they all are there to worship God, and God is rejoicing when a sinner repents because He loves that sinner so much. So there's a huge party going on!

It makes me think about the day I came to Christ. I wish I could have heard Heaven that day. I wonder how long the party lasted and how loud they all cheered and sang for my sinful heart that had been made new. Maybe that's something I'll ask if God will share with me when I get to Heaven.

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