A Coke-can sized love (and how unimpressive it is when you're less than the least)

Well. It's been like 4 months since I've last blogged. Way to go, insightful English major. But better way overdue than never. Isn't that how the saying goes?

Short, incomplete recap: I successfully finished my sophomore year with a still growing GPA, despite the 4 seasons of Prison Break I went through. I don't know how it happens, but my grades only get better when Netflix is in the mix. My roommates are the best. A&M is figuring out how to deal with a diva of a quarterback. Alabama wants to eat us. And God continues to remind me how much of an idiot I am and how--in the paraphrased words of Icona Pop--he doesn't care, he loves me. Though I wish he would make time slow down because there's no stinkin' way I'm about to start my junior year at A&M. Can I be on the football team just so Sumlin can redshirt me for a year? Can upperclassman even be redshirted?

Anyways. 

So this summer I've been one of the youth interns at the church I grew up in, which has been crazy awesome and I floored by how God is proving himself to be faithful and strong through me. He's put me in a position of influence for some reason. A weird concept, considering this is the girl who regularly chokes on water.

But in the Wednesday night Bible study I've been co-leading, we've been studying Ephesians. The 3rd chapter talks about how big God's love is and Paul (like, THE Paul) says that he is less than the least (verse 8). Which is pretty mind-blowing. I mean, this guy wrote over half of the New Testament. And aside from Jesus (duh), was probably the most obedient follower of Christ ever. You don't get much more sold out for the Gospel than this guy. And to think that he's describing himself has lower than the worst, as sub-human, as dirt? What does that mean for us? What does that mean for the girl who can't do a quiet time consistently for over a week? For the guy who has a pride that swallows everything else? For the man who preaches trust but holds back his finances? For the woman who thinks she's a Proverbs 31 woman but is deeply insecure about herself? Is there any hope for us?

Yes. Ephesians 3:14-21 is testament to that. The love of God is high, deep, far, and wide. It's huge. It encompasses everything. No amount of hatred can dampen it. That's why Jesus came. He came for the world. For those who thought they were living right (but weren't) and for those who knew they were messed up (and are).

Francis Chan describes the love of humans as the size of a Coke can. We can be as full as we can be. We can even be overflowing. But it's little. It's a Coke can. Easily emptied. Consumed quickly. And afterward, we're still thirsty. It doesn't satisfy completely, though. Maybe a craving, sure. But it's not a source of hydration.

But the love of God is like an ocean with fresh water. It's immeasurable. It will never run dry. It sustains. It's the very reason why a savior was sent for the scum inhabitants of an earth that was designed to glorify its creator. We fell on our faces and never looked back. Thankfully, though, we're being chased by a God who loves us deeply with no good reason. The ocean doesn't have a reason to exist and is impossible to tame. God's love doesn't belong in a Coke can and exists because it just does. We have no reason to be loved. But we are.

Less than the least. Loved by the greatest that is.


Credits:
Ephesians 3
Francis Chan (and Nicole F. for bringing it to my attention)