Redemption

I read today's devotional in My Utmost For His Highest, Redemption--Creating the Need it Satisfies, and not surprisingly, I was convicted. The main point was that the gospel both creates and satisfies our need for itself. God knows our hearts and the ways we are in need of him, but it's up to us to recognize those and then seek him. He doesn't move until we ask with an expectant heart.

I don't often think of my need for the gospel. It's something I've internalized to the point that it doesn't amaze me anymore. I seem to forget the role of the gospel in my life and that's essentially the same as me saying I don't need it.

It occurred to me that maybe God allows us to forget, to walk away, to try to fill his place in our hearts with other things, just so that we can come back to him. Because it's the moment we return that we stand before him in awe, when we fall to our knees in worship after realizing once again how wonderful he is. That moment wouldn't happen if we didn't have the chance to walk away. That doesn't mean we should walk away, it just means we serve a God who understands who we are. He knows we're prone to wander and he lets us go because he knows we'll return once we see that nothing else can satisfy the need he created in our hearts. And that's where I've found myself- praising God for allowing me to get caught up in myself for a while, but loving me the same when I come running back as when I walked away.