“Wanted”

Don’t look now, but I just saw a wanted poster with your face and name.  I just saw your picture pasted on the front of a billboard because someone is looking for you.  What did you do?  You must have done something really scary to have your own “wanted” poster.  I have good news, Heaven is full of these wanted posters, and fortunately, we all have our picture hanging there.  God is the sheriff in town that has declared us “wanted.” 

It’s no secret that God is a loving God, and a loving parent.  God wants us.  Now I know it can be misinterpreted these days when someone “wants” something or someone.  But with God, He makes it understood that He wants all of us.  God wants everything we have, and we know this because He sent His Son here to tell us.  When asked about the “greatest commandment” or the most important thing God wants from us, He replied “You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  Matthew 22:37(NKJV) This tells me that God wants us.  He wants everything we have to give. 

God’s love for His children goes beyond anything we can imagine here on this earth.  We have placed too many different meanings on the word “love” that we have managed to lose any understanding of His love for us, and just how much we are “wanted.”  Think about this for a second.  Imagine coming home from a long day at work, and you pull into the driveway.  Your son or daughter comes rushing out the door and jumps into your arms before you can even put your daily baggage down.  There are no conditions to be met as far as your son or daughter is concerned, they are just ecstatic to see you, to know that you are home.  For those with pets, we get the same thing.  This is a small, miniscule example of God’s love for us.  He has no conditions to be met, He has no requirements of gifts or presents in order to receive His love.  He simply loves unconditionally.  He simply “wants” us. 

Just imagine how it will feel when you are allowed through the pearly gates and Jesus takes down your “wanted” poster.

“in the world, not of the world”