Lavished by God

Recently I found a little locket as I was cleaning up my daughter’s Rachel’s room. It was a locket she bought from someone else when she was probably 8 or 9. She put a tiny picture of me and her big sister Lauren Claire and also one of Warren in and wore it for a short time. She wanted to wear a reminder of her family… to show others that she was loved and that she belonged to us. I think this is an expression the longing that we all have to be loved and to know that we are part of a family.

About that same time I also came across a passage in Scripture that I still think about often.

I cannot quite grasp all that it is saying…

I John 3:1 says

"How great is the love you have lavished on me that I should be called a child of God.

And that is what I am!"

Lavished. I have been intrigued by the idea of God lavishing his love on me. What does that mean? Have I experienced that? Why or Why not? I think in our tangible kind of world it is very hard to understand or experience God’s extravagant love.

The dictionary defines lavished as

great in quantity or richness.

Very generous in giving.

Extravagant

Wasteful.

Other words that are similar are

lush, plush, swanky, ritzy, first class.

At times it is hard to grasp this idea of extravagance because

we have such a high value living economically.

This passage says God declaring us his child.. that we are in HIS family is a demonstration of his extravagant love toward us.

I have thought of a few snapshots of lavish love that I have been thinking about to help me begin to wrap my head around this idea of God’s lavish love.

As a parent sometimes I feel a tiny bit of what I think God must feel toward us in the ways he lavishes his love on us. When our oldest daughter when away to college she and I were excited to make her dorm room look cute and comfortable. She and her roommate picked out fun black and white comforters. I made at least 6 or 7 coordinating pillows to go on their beds. Black and white, green and pink and purple. Very cute.

Before she left I wrote her a note and said I hoped that the beauty and excess of pillows (well yes maybe I made a few too many but they did have the cutest room on the floor!) would be a reminder of God’s lavishing love and care for them in their tiny dorm room.

While we do look for tangible evidences of God’s love (and that is what makes it so hard for us to really trust that God loves us at times when life falls apart and things do not look or feel the way we think a loving Father would act toward his children. This passage says just the fact that he calls us his children is a demonstration of the all that He has lavished on us.

The Lord was gracious to Warren and I and gave us both of our girls through adoption. I hope that our girls can see more and more all that God has lavished on them by being a part of the Culwell family. (Not that we are perfect by any means.... but they have had a loving father and mother that has given them love, godly direction, healthy family relationships, consisitency and so much more).

A picture of this extravagant God that we know is also shown to us in Luke 15 which tells about the story of the Prodigal Son.. as Tim Keller says in his book called Prodigal God…. He is extravangant and wasteful toward us. As the younger son is fearfully returning home, we see the Father waiting eagerly for his son. Rushing out to embrace him and lavishing his ring, throwing a banquet, etc. for him. He also reaches out the angry older son by moving towards him asking him to join in the celebrating.

What reasons do I have to keep my distance or be doubtful of God’s amazing, lavishing love for me? I want to relish daily in this extravagant love He has for me!