Unmerited Favor and When in Rome...

I was in the service early on Sunday, wierd I know. Usually I am racing in late, which I hate, due to having to wait until Jude is done with his nap and/or force feeding him quickly so that I can get there relatively close to the start time. So, sitting there with my slow deep breaths and a few minutes to spare, I began thinking about what had just happened in the the transaction of dropping Jude off in the nursery room. (He recently graduated up to the toddler room if you can believe that). Alan and Pam met me at the door, who are our dear friends and work in his room during our service, and they were so excited to see Jude and kiss on him. Alan said," Alright buddy we are going to party." with a big smile on his face. As I was walking away another woman, a wife of one of our elders, stopped by the room and said to Jude " Where's my favorite baby? Hey Jude". I also was thinking about the week before when one of the woman in the infant room heard that he was moving up to the toddler room and she said," Oh good, I love Jude, I am just filling in in this room and that means I will get to keep taking care of him."


What is that? Are these people just acting like Jude is the neatest thing since sliced bread because I am around and they want me to like them. No. Does loving on Jude give them status? Hmmmm...not that I am aware of. But then...I started thinking back to my days growing up in the church. There were a handful of adults that loved on me in the same way. They gave me gifts for my birthday every year. They smiled at me on Sunday mornings and bragged with my parents about my accomplishments or how I was growing and maturing. Back then I liked it but didn't understand why these adults would care about what I was doing or who I was. This same question surfaced on Sunday as I observed a small version of this with my own son.


My conclusion is that it is pure and simply Jesus being lived out by His Body. Just like the unmerited favor that he pours out on us by calling us to be his sons and daughters. Truly he does not gain status by choosing, saving and loving on us. The neat thing is that I am not sure that any of the people that I have talked about above would even be able to identify necessarily why they are drawn to Jude or I. But, I truly think it can be explained by the fact that Jesus is at work in and through them by the communing together of believers. I think that one of the main reasons that we have been commanded to not stop meeting regularly with the saints is that this is a main way he can communicate his love, through other believers. It is a mystery and truly beautiful.

What I am about to post may appall you depending on where you live. However, they do say "When in Rome..."




This is Jude with our friend Nathan who is a big Tennessee fan and yes, this is Jude with a Tennessee jersey on. We're just trying to fit in okay?



And, who can't love a face like this...



Well, that is all for now. Would love to hear any comments you have, all are welcome, you don't have to been a 'member' of google to leave one!

Love,
Mackenzi :)