First love

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will….  –Ephesians 1:3-5 (NIV)

Look up at the stars. See as far as you can see. Imagine what lies beyond that. When God was putting the planets in place, He had you on His mind. While He worked, He dreamed of where you would live, when you would live, who your parents would be, how tall you’d grow. He saw ahead to the first time you’d have your heart broken, the day you fell off your bike and got that scar on your knee. He knew each struggle and each victory. He also saw your heart, and He made a decision about you that day: “That one will know Me as Father. He’ll be set apart as a member of my house.” The thought made Him smile. Not that it was going to be easy.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ….  –Ephesians 1:7-9 (NIV)

A terrible price would be paid to buy you back from the slavery He knew you would sell yourself into. And you were worth it in His eyes. I lead worship for preschoolers and kindergartners. A few weeks ago, we were discussing the scripture where Jesus told the crowds that every hair of their heads was numbered. We talked about how God knows that level of detail for everyone, everywhere, for all time. One little girl, Hannah, was dubious. She wanted to know how that was even possible. How do you explain “infinite” to a five-year-old?

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.  –Ephesians 1:17-19a (NIV)

We talked about how big God is, how He never sleeps, how He has the capacity to keep up with every detail and actually cares to do so. The lesson is as timely for us as it was for Hannah. We periodically remind ourselves because we are forgetful. Jesus had many kind words for the Ephesian church in Revelation 2, but He also had a caution. They had become so enamored of the doing that they forgot about the being. Take a breath. Just be. Find the wonder again. Find the reason you fell in love with the One Who has always loved you.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.  –Revelation 2:4-5a (NIV)