By The last couple of weeks I have had this song running through my mind, and what it means for us. I think this song is fairly popular in Christian radio, at least that is what one of my friends told me, however, I don’t typically listen to the radio, I found the song because it was on a random Apple playlist I was listening to. The part that has been on repeat is below:
To the captive it looks like freedom
To the orphan it feels like home
To the skeptic it might sound crazy
To believe in a God who loves
When I first heard this as a description of what the Gospel is, my mind went to the first two lines and went well yeah that is the one thing their heart desires. I did not understand the third until I also realized that it is what their hearts desire but they also don’t understand. Those who have been in captivity a long time, do not remember what freedom was like, before they were captive. For some in captivity, they have been there in captivity for their whole life and do not know what freedom looks like but they know that they want it. For an orphan, they might never have felt like they were home. How will they know what it feels like? I want to say that the skeptic that they too have not experienced a God who loves. If they had, they would not be a skeptic anymore right? If the captive were free, they would not be a captive anymore, if an orphan was home, that would mean they had a family and were no longer an orphan.
The Gospel has the power to transform us from who we are to become who God has called us to be, and who are hearts are crying out to be. Before the Gospel entered our lives where were we? What were we crying out for? Paul, was a man that was seeking to please God and followed all the rules and all the laws but had not felt the love of God before that road to Damascus. At least his actions would show that he had not. He was striving to please God, which we do in our own lives in an attempt to make Him happy with us, so He will love us right? It was not until Paul had the encounter that he understood that his works were nothing, that they were not going to earn him God’s love because he already had it. I wonder how many of us live like Paul did before his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, doing the works without the relationship and hoping that God will love us because we are doing so good? Let’s chat!
