Sign of Life

When spring comes along and temperatures start to rise, there is anticipation for those soon coming signs of life when buds start to form on trees and the grass begins to turn green again.  This morning, on the way to work, I didn't see signs of life like this, but I did see a sign of life.

As I was waiting to turn left onto Taylor Street there was a yellow sign that showed a meridian that divided two arrows, one turning left and one turning right.  In the middle of it someone had spray-painted the word "Life" on it.  But the word was not done in a vulgar fashion, it was beautiful in its rounded letters, and the placement was perfect--right under the meridian with the arrows going by in their respective directions.  I thought to myself that this person had captured well some of the essence of real life:  that there are choices to be made, different directions that can be taken, and that these are not curses but part of the beauty of what life is all about.

It was a sign of life.

But I recognize that a brief encounter with an interesting object like this sign, though interesting and thought provoking, is not enough to chart one's course in life.  I need much more than that.  I need something that will address the deep and ongoing needs in my soul.  I need something that has staying-power.  I need something that will help me to understand who I am, and what the meaning or purpose of life is. 

I need a Saviour.

But there is even something else:  I seem to need to know that this Saviour actually loves me, and doesn't look at me as another item on His divine "to do list."

In Deuteronomy 26:18 I hear the voice of God who tells me a little bit about what He thinks of me.  This is what he says: "And the Lord has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you."

God looks at me, one of his children, as someone of great value.  He sees my warts, and shortcomings, and all my own self-denial and self-hate, and is uninfluenced by my own opinion of myself.  How great it is to have someone who is loving enough to desire you, strong enough to stay, and wise enough to see what is really true!

God's children are his prized possessions!  Jesus looks at us with eyes that simply scream "I love you, and I like you!" 

How amazing, and how elusive.  It's as though we are standing at the corner of Circle and Taylor, looking at a sign with two directions pointing, and the word "life" written on it.  Jesus is calling us to choose to accept his love for us, to accept his opinion of us, but we so often decide to take the other way.

When God tells us that he treasures us he means it.  This is a powerful sign of life because it is there that we will experience life as it should be, as it could be.

So here is my advice:  give up.  Give up trying to go at life on your own.  Give up trying to fight against what God has put in place.  Give up trying to forge your own path, your own mission, your own meaning, your own life, because to take that turn in the road always leads to frustration.  Give up and receive.  Receive God's opinion of you as his child.  Let his word about you--treasure--guide you toward him.

Enjoy being his treasure today.

BT