8 December

Psalm 103:9-14 (New International Version)

⁹ He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

¹² as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

It just blows me away. I thought I have a clear grasp of it, but it never fails to stun me each time. GOD'S GREAT LOVE. Jesus showed it to me. He didn't wait til I overcome my sins, til I reach perfection (which is never going to happen), til I confessed - but He did it. He thought that whatever state I am in, I am worth it. He accepted me just as I am.

There are so many things that have happened to me in the past weeks. I asked God to instill in my heart the lessons that H e wants me to learn. The trip to the shelter was one of the highlights of my November. I met good people with unselfish desire to reach out to young ones. The shelter accepts each kid who knocks at its doors with no questions asked. The shelter does not choose the right kid, those who are bright, strong and cute. The kids were accepted just as they are - hungry, thirsty, without a bag of clothes, without slippers for their feet.

Just as we are.

We were accepted. Perhaps the only "validation" why we were accepted is that we are hungry and thirsty. If we seek to make it right first, to clean up our act first, we may not be qualified because only God can make us right, only He can remove any stigma that comes with our name. He had done a great act of dying for our sins and giving His name to replace ours. There's no reason for us to ask Him to save us because He already did. "His covenant is not invalidated by our rebellion." The only thing left for us to do is to come to Him, hungry and thirsty.

We seek after this world, with hunger for fame and thirst for passion and romance, which leads us eventually to nothing. The hunger and thirst is never satisfied. Then we realize that what we are hungry and thirsty for is righteousness - a clean conscience, a fresh start. And only when we knock on the doors, lost for everything but our spiritual hunger and thirst, can we find a hand that will lead us in.

"Come back to the Lord your God, because He is kind and shows mercy. He doesn't become angry quickly, and He has great love." (Joel 2:13)


---J.B.