Hosanna Restoration Church

I was singing the Lord a love song today, something that I truly love to do, when I was somewhat overcome by His presence. At first I became so aware of how much He cares for me and of course for everyone, but since a relationship is personal, I was most aware of His care for me. It is like a package containing more than enough of everything. Then as I began to thank Him I had this feeling of sadness because so many people could care less about Him or how much He cares. Just as quickly, the thought struck me of how much I did not care about God for so many years.

As a child, I went to church. I sang songs like “Jesus Loves Me” and “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus,” but I really did not care. As I got older, I recognized my own bad behavior, but again, I really did not care. I went to church because I had to, and missed whenever I could find a good reason. I did not care when I was there and I did not care when I was not there.

I sang in the choir and even as a soloist, but I did not really care. I would make brilliant statements like, “I wouldn’t want to go to heaven because none of my friends would be there,” because I simply did not care. Of course, I could use the excuse of not knowing any better back then, but hey, I did not care or even try to make an excuse. About the only thing to my credit was that I did not hold it against people who really did care.

How amazing it is to think that even when I really did not care, He never stopped caring about me. And since He never stopped caring about me, I know that He has not stopped caring about anyone. He even cares about the very people who might wish harm to my son in the Army. I really want to care the way God does, but I need some help on that one! I would love to see them come to Jesus, but if they refuse; well I pray the Lord chases them far away from our side! Yes I have a long way to go before I care like God cares.

So the good news here is that God cares. He cares about you. He cares about your joys, your sorrows, your victories and your defeats. No one can ever say that nobody cares, because the truth is that God always cares! Even when we think He should not, He still does. When Peter denied Jesus, He still cared. When the religious leaders convinced the people choose a thief over His son, He still cared. The truth is He never stops caring.

Now, I can honestly say that there is never a time when I consciously do not care about what God thinks or how He feels, but I wonder how often my thoughts, words, and actions display something different. As we approach the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection, it would be good if we reflected on how much He cares and then allow Him to transform us to His ways. It does little good to make a short term sacrifice only to return to our old ways as soon as we can.