I went excavating last night.
Well. Not really. I sat in my living room and ‘excavated’ a dinosaur from an egg.
I gave my daughter money to buy gifts for her teachers and a few family members, along with a budget on how much to spend on each.
She came back with a gift for each person, but with probably the most expensive item for herself (her name had not been on the list).
The item she chose for herself was a dinosaur egg, with excavating tools aka a plastic pick and brush. The job of excavating him out was left to us. I told her I’d help her, but we’d have to make time to get it done. When you tell that to a 5 year old, it just means every 5 minutes the question came up of whether it was time yet (actually sounds like me when I’m asking God for something).
After she started chiseling for a few minutes, she’d barely scratch the surface. I knew it was going to take more energy and strength than she was able to expend, so I took over.
I chiseled and brushed for what seemed like a very long time, but long enough to only get the body and tail out of the egg, and acquire a sore thumb with a fully formed blister.
I held it up to her and showed her my now bruised thumb and asked her if she saw just how much I was willing to do for her because I loved her so much.
In that moment, I thought of a very different kind of bruising. I thought of Jesus’ nail scarred hands. My little blister is nothing compared to how much Jesus loves us. He loves us so much that we was willing to suffer on the cross for sins that He had not committed, so that we would be free from guilt and shame.
Do you know just how much Jesus loves you? My daughter knows I love her because I tell her of my little bruised thumb, but that pales in comparison to Jesus being born so that He could be the ultimate sacrifice for us.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love. We thank you that you were willing to go to Calvary for us to show us the depth of your love. Lord, help us to realize that we are no longer bound because you have come to set us free. Help us not to live with a mantle of shame and regret.