One of my favorite songwriters, Jason Upton, once said to his audience with a chuckle, “For some reason right after you have children, you cry out a lot more for grace.”

This couldn’t be truer for me.  I told someone just the other night that in the immortal words of Tom Hanks’ character Ray Peterson from the 80s flick -‘The ‘Burbs,’ when he gets blown up in his lunatic-neighbor’s house — “I’m a shell of a man.”

At least this is often how I feel.

There’s something that happens in the adult psyche when you must cross over into the land of Babyville, or as I like to call it, “Baby-lon” — (I feel as though sometimes I am reduced to a confounded babbler like the people of Shinar trying to build the tower of Babel in the Old Testament).

It’s often when I’m holding a “teething” Holland or trying to put her in her car seat to transport her somewhere; that vibe of disagreement she gives me…the grunt…the cry…the wail…from the tiny, seemingly inconsequential little body, that somehow moves mountains.

Suddenly, I’m faced with a choice.  I can either maintain my “all self-sufficient” 31-year-old-grown-man Modus Operandi, acting out–as I’m able to – aggressively, loudly and defiantly, in hopes of somehow changing her demeanor (which of course never works……trust me, I’ve tried).

Or, I can step down to her level…and become less.  Taking a breath, I can re-assess the reality of the situation, begin to speak to her softly, and attempt to ease and soothe her emotions by assuring her that “I’m here, it’s ok…”

What have I done?  I have come down to where she’s at.  And, as it has in the past, it most likely will work, or at least diminish the situation.

This is what I’m thinking about Jesus.  He is the God who became less.  And furthermore, when He didn’t have to.

This is what I love about Christianity.  It vastly separates itself from other schools of spiritual or religious thought because instead of demanding we scale a wall of faith, duty, or rules, Jesus invites us to come to Him and… “Receive.”  Because ultimately, the core of Christian belief is that God didn’t ask us to jump up and reach for Him; He came “down” to us first.

I mean, really, being a Christian is only so good and only good for a little while if I really don’t believe that God came down to my level, and on top of that, stays there every day.

As Psalm 23 assures:  “He makes me lie down…He leads me beside quiet waters…He restores my soul…”

I think about John 13 after Jesus had finished washing His disciples’ feet (culturally the greatest act of service at the time), and Peter opposed Jesus, saying “Never shall you wash my feet!”

Jesus responds with, what I believe, is the essential definition of the Gospel:

“If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.”  In other words, “The prerequisite for serving Me, is letting Me serve you.”

What a paradigm shift of our relation to God.

God Himself, The One who was great, became less to serve me.

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus represents precisely (Hebrews 1:3) the heart of God when he says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest…learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (mind, will and emotions)…”

To know a God, someone obviously bigger and greater than me, who humbly invites me to receive from Him rest, security, and care as a good Father–out of His own kind choice (Ephesians 1:5), is life-changing.

And what’s more, He has made a way for renewal and restoration for us through Jesus’ work on the cross.  In spite of the things that are wrong with us, and the things that have been done wrong to us, we can be restored and made new.

Isaiah 53: 4-6 says:

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried…He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.

Whatever your own situation or experience, right now you can know that you are new.  You are not outside of God’s finished work in Christ that can bring wholeness and newness to any area of your life.

Whether a current follower of Christ or not, If you believe that Christ’s death and resurrection are divine and catalytic for new things in your life, I invite you to pray this simply prayer:

Jesus, I ask that you make yourself real to me right now.  I choose to believe that you are God sent to redeem me, as well as give me new hope in my mind and heart.  I receive the free gift of salvation in Christ, and the great, new things you want to do in my life.

Father, I pray that you would give my friend confidence to see you correctly.  Confidence to know that you have already come down to where they are, all that they need to do is to receive.  I ask that you would help them walk away from any experiences that failed to portray your true heart and love for them.  Help them to forgive where needed.  Heal any inflicted wounds right now, in the name of Christ Jesus.  Lead them to people and places that will affirm their true identity in you.  Assure them that you love and accept them, right now, as they are.  I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

I love you guys!