CHEERING FOR ALL ETERNITY
NOTE: This post is taken from my newest book, The Perfect Savior, a forty-day Easter devotional published by Our Daily Bread.
My granddaughter, Tesia, was performing in a piano recital along with other first-graders. One by one, young entertainers approached the stage and tickled the ivories, attempting to make musical magic at the keyboard. Sitting through this melodic extravaganza wasn’t easy. If the students had scraped their nails on chalkboards, they might have produced more pleasant sounds.
Yet as each pianist completed their performance, guess how the audience responded? With applause. At the end, the children garnered a standing ovation. Why in the name of Paderewski would we reward such a performance? Because the room loved these young musicians. We weren’t applauding the quality of their performance. We were cheering for their effort—despite the fact that it offended our ears.
Our love for our kids and grandkids despite their imperfect musical efforts is a lot like God’s love for us. The Psalmist said, “the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love” (Psalm 147:11). He doesn’t cheer us on in the Christian life because of our outstanding performance, because we don’t always get it right. Some days we mess up, and our best efforts resemble a first-grade piano recital. We pound out lots of sour notes, but our lives are like a beautiful symphony to him.
Thankfully, God’s love isn’t based on what we do, but on what he did for us. “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:5). Likewise, I celebrated Tesia because she’s my granddaughter, and I love her.
Does this mean God overlooks sin? Absolutely not. This is why Jesus came. But even knowing from all eternity how poorly we’d perform, he persevered to save us. Today, he’s on the front row, loving us and cheering us on, like a proud papa. Even when our sour notes wreak havoc on everyone’s ears.
From all eternity, he planned to save us by paying the ultimate price for us with his Son’s life. He intervened throughout history to bring it to pass. His greatest desire was to restore us. Not because we’d perform well, but because of his love for us.
Got it? Me neither … God’s plan is a mystery too profound to grasp.
Principle: God’s plan to save us wasn’t based on how well we would perform, but on his love for us.
Ponder:
Under what circumstances are you most likely to beat yourself up because of your poor performance?
How does understanding God’s unconditional love for you despite your performance help you overcome your struggles?
Pursue: For a deeper dive, study Romans 8:31-39.
“Heavenly Father, thank you for not rejecting me because of my poor performance. I thank you for your marvelous plan and the knowledge that you take delight in me, even when I hit sour notes.
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