He Opted For The Press...

A couple of days ago while logging in for my routine email check, I noticed a disturbing headline. It read, “Mother Abandons 11 Year Old Son at the Hospital.” Apparently, Nebraska is the last state to adopt a safe haven law that allows caregivers to abandon children and infants without fear of prosecution. Shortly after the law took effect, a mother brought in her 11 year old son and another woman brought in her 15 year old nephew (she was the legal guardian). Both stated that the boys had behavioral problems that they could not handle anymore. I was floored and the obvious was not the culprit. Unfortunately, children and infants are abandoned all the time…but an 11 year old and a 15 year old? That means the child has actually spent part of their life with that parental figure and upon arrival at the hospital and the days thereafter, they know who it was that gave up on them.

I know I couldn’t imagine how extreme the circumstances must have been to take those measures and I’m definitely not at liberty to pass judgment. But it got me thinking…What if we became too much for God and He threw His hands up on us? I mean, he actually was given this option. Dying for us had several implications. Many of us would ignore His call to our hearts. And although some of us would choose to heed the call, He would still have to strive with us because its impossible to live this life without stumbling. Yeah, people would be saved, but not only would He have to press to the cross, but He’d have to contend with our imperfections, our unintentional and intentional sins, our questioning the moves He makes in our lives, our constantly wavering faith, etc. Hebrews 12:2 (AMP) says:

“Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

This tells me that He looked ahead and saw the full potential in each soul that would inhabit this earth…He peered through each person’s life, saw the ups, saw the downs, saw the choice for or against…and deemed us all “worth it.” The threshold of His mercy and grace was removed on the cross. He opted for the press…

I’m overwhelmed with gratitude right now for His sacrifice…and its only right that in this quest for God’s best that I opt for the same…