Countless

For the last week, I have been seriously jamming to the Rend Collective Experiment album, Campfire. It's pretty fantastic and I'd give it two moderately enthusiastic thumbs up, so go & check it out if you get a chance. While you're investigating the music, take a second to read up about the band as well. Their story is pretty neat and the heart of their work is pure worship.

One of the songs on the album is haunting me in the best way possible. I find myself yearning to listen to it on repeat if only to savor it to the fullest potential. Maybe before you go any further, you should play the video embedded at the bottom of this post, so you can hear it too as you read along. As simplistic as the message is, a melody about forgiveness, I can't help repeating the words over and over again in my mind. It speaks to my heart, reminding me of the extravagant grace that is lavished upon me. Grace can often be scandalous, but God is always good. Wounds inflicted by others are healed. The guilt I hold over my own shortcomings is quieted. Patience is strengthened and renewed.

Did you catch that? Go back and read it again. I'll give you a minute.



If you didn't go back, here it is a second time:

Countless second chances we've been given at the cross.

Not one chance. Not a few chances. Countless. As in, I've-lost-track-of-how-many-times-i've-screwed-up-and-its-only-wednesday... but I get another chance. There's freedom and joy to be found here. Realizing how many times I've been forgiven, the cost of forgiveness, the unending grace makes me appreciative to the point of heart change. And heart change is the point of all this, isn't it? I find that I walk a little taller because in the moment, I've forgiven myself for my own shortcomings. Smiles are a little brighter and more earnest because I'm reminded I need forgiveness as much as the person next to me. Oh, how great is the grace handed down so freely to me.

So if you're reading this, why not make this song your heart's cry today?

"And you, who were dead in your trespasses...God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all of our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14

Have you lost your temper recently and yelled unintentionally at your child? [raises hand] In feeling unloved have you been unkind toward your husband? [raises hand] Are you battling your own expectations, convinced you'll never be good enough? [get the picture yet?] Allowing myself to let go of my own failures is often harder for me than forgiving other people for wronging me. The guilt and the comparison and the ugly seeps in and can be a beast to shake off. And yet,

Countless second chances we've been given at the cross.

Has someone hurt you deeply with hateful words or heartless actions? There's nothing easy about letting go of grudges, especially when the pain is personal. Leaving justice in the hands of the Father and choosing not to condemn the people who have wronged me often requires more grace than I'm willing to part with. And yet,

Countless second chances we've been given at the cross.