the call on the redeemed.

I seem to have these odd, late-night inspirations. They always come at the wrong time, and bother me. Like right now. I’m in the middle of doing homework. I’ve got some fifteen odd pages to finish in Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice for English and some statistics homework problems. But feeling a prompting to just sit and write, I’ve agreed to set those assignments aside for the present, and try and hash out this post.

One misfortune has come to mind as I write this, however, and that is that I’m breaking my pattern of posting on Tuesdays. For a while there, I thought posting on Tuesdays was pretty sweet and even considered changing the name of this blog to the “Tuesday Post.” But obviously I didn’t go through with that.

I guess I’ll proceed to the real point of what I'm writing, though I’m still not clear of the direction this is taking…

Last week, I read the best book I have ever read: Redeeming Love. It’s written by Francine Rivers who has translated the story of the prophet Hosea into the period of the California Gold Rush. (Oddly, I have been encouraged to read this book over the past several years, and it hasn’t been until now that I finally took their advice. I guess it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time.) A man named Michael Hosea, a devout follower of God, is compelled by the urging of the Holy Spirit to marry a prostitute, Angel. Despite her initial hesitance and conviction that he is crazy, he convinces her to marry him and begins a life with her. I don’t want to give away the story—though if you’re familiar with the story of Hosea, you can probably figure out what happens—but I do want to at least express the reason why I refer to this novel with the highest regard. (Currently, I’m reading Pride & Prejudice, as I said above, and I the style of writing in the books I read always influences my own writing style, which is why I’m sound slightly odd and old-fashioned here.)

I’ll admit: I’m a hopeless romantic. Nicholas Sparks is brilliant, Jane Austen is sensational, and country music is appealing because of the fairytale endings. But no romance captivated me so much as the one described in this book. Michael’s love for Angel is unwavering, even after she leaves him without excuse time and again. Initially, I found myself wondering where is my Michael? When will I find him? Will I even find him?

But as the book progressed, I came to realize that Rivers didn’t intend for her readers to fall in love with Michael; she hoped they would fall in love with the Almighty. Slowly, as Angel’s own personal barriers begin to collapse, she opens her heart up to love. She finally recognizes and accepts the true power of the Messiah, and her life is redeemed because of it. And as she experienced this change, I felt as if I was right there with her, falling in love with my Savior once again: realizing his power, his sacrifice, his unfailing love. As I thought about it, Michael wasn’t just a man. He functioned as a reflection of Christ: his relationship with Angel is like God’s relationship with us. No matter how messed up we are, no matter how many times we’ve failed him, he’ll always love us. He’ll come running after us. He’ll keep searching until he finds us, the one lost sheep, his prized possession.

I finished this incredible book in the backseat of a six-hour drive home from Mammoth. And embarrassingly, I found myself crying at the novel’s close. (Fortunately, no one saw—though they might as well seeing as I’m admitting it now.) I could feel God’s presence and could feel that he loved me. Amidst the turmoil of life, he would always be there. To avoid the possible discovery of my flooding emotions, I looked out the window and saw the desert. It was so majestic and so beautiful. If you know me, I’m not one to get too excited about deserts. I usually find them somewhat repulsive, but I was persuaded otherwise in these few moments. I wish I had taken a picture, but even then, I don’t think that would do the scene proper justice. The plateaus and sandy hills were striped in varying shades of orange. And the sky was so blue and so vast. It was simply gorgeous. But no wonder? It’s God’s creation after all! And as I’m writing this right now, I’m drawing my own little parallel to life from the scene that was before me: when we are in our own personal desert, God’s glory is still evident. He is still there. There is "beauty in the broken" (as the worship band Starfield says).

To add to this perfect moment, the most appropriate Hillsong songs shuffled into my headphones (thanks, iPod): “Inside Out”, “Stronger”, and “At the Cross.” It was as if God was confirming the feelings I was having and enveloping me in his love. He somehow knew the feelings in my heart and told my iPod to play those songs: “I want to love you from the inside out”, “You are stronger, you are stronger/Sin is broken, You have saved me/It is written: Christ is risen/Jesus you are Lord of all”, “At the cross I bow my knee/where your blood was shed for me/there’s no greater love than this/you have overcome the grave/glory fills the highest place/what can separate me now?/you tore the veil/you made a way/when you said that it is done.” Incredible words, right?

I wanted to capture and remember the moment, so I took out my handy journal and scribbled (it’s tough writing in the car) down my thoughts. Here’s part of what I wrote: “At the end, I realized what God was showing me in this book: he wanted me to see him, be humbled by his love, want to be close to him, want to mirror his love.” I think this is true for all of us. God desires us to be his, just as Michael desired that Angel finally, truly, deeply return his love for her.

It’s too easy to forget God. We push him to the last bullet point on our to-do lists. We fall asleep during our quiet times. We would rather hang out with friends than spend an hour of silence with him. But if we can’t live without God, if he’s our source, shouldn’t he have greater priority?

In a video (http://iamsecond.com/#/seconds/Jason_Castro), Jason Castro (American Idol contestant from last year. Rocked the dredlocks and was perceived by some of the harsher critics as a druggie/stoner. For all you among that group, know this: he’s walking the walk.) brilliantly stated, “Servant of all. That’s what Jesus came to be, and I think that’s what we’re all called to be. To give our life for God, to give our life for those around us, to give our life for the good fight.”

I guess this concept somewhat overlaps with an earlier post of mine, but maybe its God’s way of hitting home this idea: if we’re really his, we ought to act as he would. If we’re really his, let’s live as Jesus did. If we’re really his, we should not love only those who love us for “even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are only kind to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 4:46-48).

Wait, what? Did Jesus really just say that? Yeah, he did. Heavy stuff, right? So why don’t we listen to it? Because it’s too hard? Because it's too weird? For heaven's sake, what would other people think (God forbid we're shunned for his sake! Oh wait, "who ever loses his life for my sake will find it.")

What would Christianity look like if we all lived like this? How would our world be different if we loved the people who persecuted us? If we loved our enemies?

I told you I had no idea where this post was going, and somehow I ended up here: challenging myself and those of you who are taking time to read this to live lives “worthy of the calling we have received.” Let's be followers of Christ. Let's "love the Lord our God, and love one another. Love one another as he loves. Love with strength, and purpose and passion no matter what comes against you. Don't weaken. Stand in the darkness, and love. That's the way back to Eden. That's the way back to life" (closing lines of Redeeming Love).