A 4:30 a.m. queso dip post

So, it's 4:30 a.m. and I just woke from a deep sleep and felt led by the Lord to get up and write this. As I type, I am still not even sure what I am writing, but I just feel like God has given me something to say to you early this morning. Last night, we went to eat at a nearby Mexican restaurant with some good friends of ours. We hadn't been at the restaurant long before Kate's face was covered in queso dip. She loves to dip anything in the queso and lick it off (including the restaurant-provided crayons). Any of you who've been around small children know that part of meal time is cleaning the little ones up after they eat. We always keep wipes in our diaper bag, knowing that Kate will make a mess when we go out. No big deal. As much as I love Kate (and it's a whole, whole lot), I usually want to clean her little face up before I give her hugs and kisses. I don't want all that queso to get all over me, you know. I am struck by the difference between myself and my Lord, Jesus Christ. His love for us is so deep and so wide, that he comes to us when we are our dirtiest and messiest and he hugs us and loves on us right then and there. He doesn't wait for us to get cleaned up and present ourselves with perfection before He offers His love.

As we get ready to begin 2010, if you don't know this love I write about this morning, I encourage you to seek God out in 2010. In Acts 17:27, Paul is in Athens speaking to some of the religious leaders. He tells them that he has seen their altars built to many Gods; He knows they are religious. He tells them he even saw an altar to "an unknown God." Paul goes on to say that "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands" (v. 24). Paul is drawing a distinction here, showing them and us that Jesus Christ is not a far-away God to whom we build altars, but who we can't really know. In one of my favorite verses in the Bible, Paul says "God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us" (v. 27). Our God is near to us. He pursues us. If we accept the sacrifice of Christ and His forgiveness and love, He stands ready to love on us - queso dip and all. He stands ready to give us peace we don't understand and mercy we don't deserve. There is no greater gift. For all of who we love near and far, I wish this peace and mercy for you with all of my heart in 2010.