Philippians 2:1-11

Philippians 2:1-11

English Standard Version 

  As a child, I never fully appreciated the sacrifices a parent makes for their child.  I don't think it's possible, and that's probably for the best.  Sitting at dinner listening to a child throw a tantrum, guilt probably isn't a healthy thing to heap into the mix.  Being a child is tough enough in this world -- kids need to know (and hear!) that their parents love and support them.  (Personally, I think they need to also hear the word 'No' enough times to cement that not everything goes their way, but that's another topic for another day.)

  Now that I'm a parent, I have a much richer appreciation for what it takes to raise a child.  There are so many things you do that you wouldn't naturally do, but because it's for your child, you just do it.  You clean up messes and listen to tantrums and tolerate 3 am wake-up calls because it's for the good of the child.  I likely didn't give a second thought to the things I asked of my parents when I was a child, but now that I'm on the other side, the landscape looks very different.

  In a similar fashion, I don't think we'll fully understand what Jesus gave up until we get to heaven.  Once there, we'll bask in the light of God's love and glory and probably won't be able to imagine voluntarily giving it up, even for a second.

  But Jesus did.  

  Why? 

  Jesus gave it up because he loves you and wants you to experience the fullness of God's glory.  Jesus left behind the grandeur of heaven and was willing to suffer the worst death in the history of humanity (because he had the entirety of human sin piled on him in his death) and endure the depths of hell in order to restore you to right standing before God.  And he didn't even lay a guilt trip on you -- he gives it as a free gift!!

  While we'll never fully grasp how much Jesus sacrificed, I think it's good to make time to try and wrap our minds around the love of God for us.  It helps restore to us the joy of our salvation.  I've been praying for that a lot lately -- in the cynical world in which we live, where so much seems to be going wrong and there are ample reasons to complain, it's hard to be joyful (can I get an Amen?).  But we have from God a free gift of eternal salvation that is given to us as a free gift.  That is a reason for great joy!  So let us spend some time contemplating that, so that our joy in Christ may increase, transforming us from the inside out.