A Royal Piece of Work

[photo: izismile.com]

"See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would be permitted to be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are!"
(1 John 3:1, Amplified)

Sometimes, quite often really, you have to remind yourself that the moment you said "I believe!" and stepped into that beautiful, never-ending Kingdom, you became Royal family; and because of that, you will always have a place at the greatest banqueting table of them all.

Always. No matter what kind of day, week, or past 30 minutes it's been, now that you are His and He is yours, God won't love you and me any more or any less according to our performance to try to earn that seat at His table. Or His lap. Or His grip. Because just as we were saved by God's grace alone, and not by anything we could ever do, or think of, or scheme to earn it, so it is with our mind-blowing identity as an adopted son or daughter of the King of the universe. 

God set this truth in place before anyone thought it was a good idea: Family love can't be earned. It just is. 

Most sunny days, we get that. But a rainy Sunday morning in New England during what has been a rather gray first month of spring is a reminder that it doesn't take much to cloud moods and dampen perspective on all sorts of things, including that Divine brain pretzel of being adopted into Royalty. Performance, after all, is a persistent bugger. It tries really hard to win at playing king of the hill. Its voice is loud because we are born into a culture that celebrates working hard to earn something, to perform in some way to get the approval of bosses, peers, friends, and family. It can begin with the subtlety of the message of a childhood prayer: "...God bless mommy and daddy, and help me to be a good boy. Amen." Even at a wee age, the reinforcing idea is do the right things, and mom and dad—and God—will approve of you...and if you don't, all bets are off.

For such a good, commendable, desired habit and character trait that works perfectly well in just about every single area of life, it's little wonder that many who have been adopted into Royalty continually wrestle with the thought that when it comes to the Father's love, none of that performance stuff works. It's not a maturity weakness as much as it is the reality of that brain pretzel causing frequent Truth disconnects en route to the heart.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the most frequently sung worship song around the world today is this:

"You're a good, good Father; it's who You are... 

And I'm loved by You, it's who I am...

Love so undeniable I can hardly speak;

Peace so unexplainable, I can hardly think; 

As You call me deeper still into Love..."

These are soul-stirring lyrics that resonate across cultures and generations because they are birthed in and reinforce the reality of some pretty amazing words from long ago. The performance battle, it seems, is timeless:

"For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]. For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us]."

—Ephesians 2:8-10, Amplified

Rainy Sunday or sunny Wednesday, none of us can read, hear, and swallow that truth enough, or be reminded enough that the only definition of "performance" that matters is learning to follow in my Father's footsteps. It's even a cool thing to say, 'I am a piece of work'—not just to bless me and my own little world either, but....as heaven's poetry etched on lives created in Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago.

For all who come this way, so be it, Lord.

"The great thing is to be found at one's post as a child of God, living each day as though it were our last, but planning as though the world might last a hundred years." (C.S. Lewis)