You Can Lay This Down
To those of you in the Chicago streets that believe there's no alternative for you to live out, I am here to tell you--without a doubt--you've been lied to. Whoever told you that the life of violence is the one you're here to live out is an absolute liar, and you've been terribly (and tragically) fooled. It's a tragedy in that your true abilities and talents have been wasted so far. You're living a completely different life than what you were made to live. God made you to walk with Him. God gave you talents, abilities, and a unique personality that brings all of your attributes together to form only one of you. Your parents--however they came together--resulted in the creation of you. You're not a mistake or a regret because God doesn't make mistakes and He certainly doesn't lose track of what He's doing, so He has no regrets. He perfectly created you, and He created you with the relationship He offers you as the first priority. His love for you is the greatest thing you will ever encounter. There isn't any amount of money, power, respect, adrenaline, addiction, or any attention from anyone else that could begin to compare with God's love for you. It's a love that is so unimaginable that we can't even fully understand it. But what I do understand is that it wasn't made just for me; God's love is for ANYONE who is willing to ask Him for it. Unlike other relationships, you don't have to prove anything or beg for His love. All He needs is the simple invite to enter into your life and He'll jump at the chance!!
When Jesus explained the story of the prodigal son in the Bible, Luke 15:11-32, He explained that the boy who wanted out of the house to go live his life the way he saw fit to live it was waited on by his father. Jesus explained that even though the father's son wanted out--and went out to live apart from his father and family--the boy's father waited patiently for his son to return. The father didn't lock up the property so his son couldn't return. The father didn't collect his things and relocate so that the son had no chance of ever finding his way home again. What Jesus explained is that while looking for his son to return, the father recognized his son from a far distance and RAN to him and embraced him with such love! The father wanted his son to return, but he knew he had to wait in order to really get his son back. He knew that if he tried to track him down that it would only lead to more division between them. And the father knew that his son needed to come to that place of realizing that his father really did have the home he wanted, and he had to come to the place of knowing that he really truly needed to just go back and rest in that safety and security. That safety and security the son eventually longed for was there because of the father's love for his son.
The father in that story is God, and the son who left is you and me. The reason Jesus explained this story is so that you and I will understand how much God's love is for us. We must understand that the only reason for separation from God is for us to understand how much we really need Him. That's the whole point of living apart from Him. And I'm telling you this because the time has come for you to just turn around from the life you've entered into, and return to God's embrace--return to where you started: in His love for you. It's just that easy to turn back to Him. I know this because I did it. I wandered so far from Him, and really thought I could just live my life fine without any relationship with Him. But now that I've returned, I realize I was is so much danger outside of His embrace. It wasn't even necessary for me to leave, but I now know the reality of living without Him and I know you know that reality too. So, since we have this in common won't you just understand that I've been where you are?? I've been that lost and I know what it is to not see how lost you really are. I'm out here telling you that you're VERY lost. But I'm also out here inviting you into the relationship that will lead you back to where you belong. It's not about my invitation, but the one that God is extending to you. This isn't about my opinion about you--it's about who God is and that He is everything that is good. You can trust Him. He has no reason to harm you. He isn't imperfect like parents. He isn't going to play games with you because you are far too important to Him for games to be played. He just wants to show you who you are in Him. And it's the most amazing thing you'll ever see!! It might take you a minute to learn to really trust Him, and He'll let you warm up to Him. But, I guarantee you He's so much more trustworthy than those folks you know on the streets, or in your block. I guarantee you there's no need to keep one eye on Him at all times so that you know He's not going to act up against you. God is like nothing you've ever known before, and He wants a relationship with you. I know you might not want to hear that but I'm not going to lie to you. I don't even know you, so what would I have to lie about? That's the thing. He's put you into the mind of a complete stranger so much and for so long that I finally had to sit down and write this out. I don't have another way to reach you, whoever you are, so this is how it had to happen. And it's happening because there's a desperation in that city now more than ever. And it's not getting better. He wants you to come to Him. The only one holding you back is you, so get up and make a move. Take a chance that doesn't involve destroying anyone else's life. You can lay your life down--just like you can lay down a gun and walk away from it. You can lay your life down and walk away from it and step into the new life that you'll find with Jesus Christ. You can lay all this mess down and pick up the things that God made you to do with your life. You can.
When Jesus explained the story of the prodigal son in the Bible, Luke 15:11-32, He explained that the boy who wanted out of the house to go live his life the way he saw fit to live it was waited on by his father. Jesus explained that even though the father's son wanted out--and went out to live apart from his father and family--the boy's father waited patiently for his son to return. The father didn't lock up the property so his son couldn't return. The father didn't collect his things and relocate so that the son had no chance of ever finding his way home again. What Jesus explained is that while looking for his son to return, the father recognized his son from a far distance and RAN to him and embraced him with such love! The father wanted his son to return, but he knew he had to wait in order to really get his son back. He knew that if he tried to track him down that it would only lead to more division between them. And the father knew that his son needed to come to that place of realizing that his father really did have the home he wanted, and he had to come to the place of knowing that he really truly needed to just go back and rest in that safety and security. That safety and security the son eventually longed for was there because of the father's love for his son.
The father in that story is God, and the son who left is you and me. The reason Jesus explained this story is so that you and I will understand how much God's love is for us. We must understand that the only reason for separation from God is for us to understand how much we really need Him. That's the whole point of living apart from Him. And I'm telling you this because the time has come for you to just turn around from the life you've entered into, and return to God's embrace--return to where you started: in His love for you. It's just that easy to turn back to Him. I know this because I did it. I wandered so far from Him, and really thought I could just live my life fine without any relationship with Him. But now that I've returned, I realize I was is so much danger outside of His embrace. It wasn't even necessary for me to leave, but I now know the reality of living without Him and I know you know that reality too. So, since we have this in common won't you just understand that I've been where you are?? I've been that lost and I know what it is to not see how lost you really are. I'm out here telling you that you're VERY lost. But I'm also out here inviting you into the relationship that will lead you back to where you belong. It's not about my invitation, but the one that God is extending to you. This isn't about my opinion about you--it's about who God is and that He is everything that is good. You can trust Him. He has no reason to harm you. He isn't imperfect like parents. He isn't going to play games with you because you are far too important to Him for games to be played. He just wants to show you who you are in Him. And it's the most amazing thing you'll ever see!! It might take you a minute to learn to really trust Him, and He'll let you warm up to Him. But, I guarantee you He's so much more trustworthy than those folks you know on the streets, or in your block. I guarantee you there's no need to keep one eye on Him at all times so that you know He's not going to act up against you. God is like nothing you've ever known before, and He wants a relationship with you. I know you might not want to hear that but I'm not going to lie to you. I don't even know you, so what would I have to lie about? That's the thing. He's put you into the mind of a complete stranger so much and for so long that I finally had to sit down and write this out. I don't have another way to reach you, whoever you are, so this is how it had to happen. And it's happening because there's a desperation in that city now more than ever. And it's not getting better. He wants you to come to Him. The only one holding you back is you, so get up and make a move. Take a chance that doesn't involve destroying anyone else's life. You can lay your life down--just like you can lay down a gun and walk away from it. You can lay your life down and walk away from it and step into the new life that you'll find with Jesus Christ. You can lay all this mess down and pick up the things that God made you to do with your life. You can.
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