Devotionals

Claiming Your Gift

by Antje Hill
09/23/13
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We all long to be loved and accepted. We need to know we "fit in" with others or at least with someone.  I was recently reminded of this at a high school reunion I attended.   A classmate and I were talking of those who moved away when we were in grammar school.  We both had a "best" friend who shook our world by moving out of state. I listened as she told me of her little girl fears that no one else would like her and accept her into their circle of friends.  For a moment, I re-lived those feelings. I, too, had experienced what she was expressing. I looked at this pretty lady and smiled.  We both had survived those childhood traumas. 

To be needed and loved can get us in trouble. Men and women are led into relationships, believing they are loved and cherished, only to find it conditional.  This kind of love is cruel and is the reason for many broken lives in our society. It makes a person question if they are o.k.  They are never quite sure where they stand in the world as a whole.

This human need for love and acceptance is the very thing God’s plan fulfills. He wants us to know who we are and that we are accepted when we are ‘good’ and when we are ‘bad’.  He knows our human ways and loves us anyway. And we don’t even have to work for that love. He knew if it were left up to us to earn our acceptance and salvation, some could do better it than others and we would boast of what we have accomplished.  So God made the playing field level.  All people come to the cross needy, needing desperately to be loved and accepted.  But He did all the work by sending His son as our Savior. All we have to do is accept it and acknowledge Him as Lord. At that point, His love becomes a powerful force in our lives, something we can't brag about, because all we did was accept the gift.  From there, He is our hope, He is our strength, and He is the Lover of our Soul.  He gives us a reason to live and watches over us with  tender love. All He wants is for us to be dependent on Him.  His love will never be equaled and He never disappoints. In fact, it is our Maker’s pleasure to walk with us through this life of questions and uncertainties and conditional love.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,  that we may obtain mercy
 and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrew 4:16 (NKJV)