I was on my bike today listening to some music when the words of Jeremy Riddle’s song “Sweetly Broken” hit me so hard that I literally found myself weeping as I rode along. Here’s just a few of the lyrics from that song:
At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered
What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified
You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled
I was struck by how gracious God is to call me to Himself, and allow me to be reconciled to Him through the cross. This is something I never could have done for myself. It’s not something I could earn or deserve. It’s not something I would have the courage, or even the will to do on my own.
It reminded me of watching my seven year old grandson Elijah at play. When he dons his plastic helmet and shield, and picks up his plastic sword, he is suddenly transformed into a knight in shining armor. As he wields the sword powerfully he looks as though he’s ready to take on any foe that might come at him. Then, suddenly, I realize that this is the same little boy who is afraid to go upstairs on his own when it’s dark. His knightly bravado is just a game, a child’s effort to pretend to be strong and brave.
The truth is that I play the same sort of game, pretending to have life under control, pretending to be strong and brave. But in reality, I know my weakness, my fears, my sins and my failures. When it’s dark upstairs I have to coax Elijah to climb those steps, encouraging him to remember that God is with him, reminding him to turn on the lights as he goes, and reassuring him that I am right there watching over him. Only then does he have the courage to make that daunting ascent.
God has done the same thing for me. If I’m honest with myself I would never come into God’s presence on my own. I’m too sinful to come before a holy God. I’m too broken to enter His throne room. I’m too fearful to make that daunting ascent. In fact, I’m too rebellious to even want to. But there is God, at the cross, beckoning me, drawing me gently by His perfect love, coaxing me to come near, reminding me of His love. I realize that I deserve God’s wrath, that I am under sin’s curse and have earned the wages of sin, which is death. But God is there, at the cross, calling me out of death and into life, undeserved life. So, I don’t have to make a show of make believe bravado like Elijah does in his knight’s armor. No, I can come “sweetly broken, wholly surrendered,” because of the perfect love God has shown me in Jesus. What a wonderful God we have! What a priceless gift we have been given through Christ crucified. Because of Him we have confidence to make that daunting ascent to the throne of God, to worship at His feet. That journey begins “at the cross” where our loving Father beckons us to come.
