THE THREE LISTS

“Thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine’ » (Isaiah 43:1).

DO YOU EVER FIND THAT, as you read, you feel the impact of what the author is saying? And when this happens, you no longer keep reading, but you stop to process the information for a while? Something similar happened to me when I read a statement by Max Lucado, in which he was pondering what it must have meant to God to subject His Son to a death He did not deserve, with the sole purpose of us being made righteous in God’s sight through Jesus. Then Lucado asked, «Would you surrender your son or your daughter, so that an enemy wouldn’t die?» Then he himself replies, «There are people for whom I would give my life, but ask me to make a list of the names of those people for whom I would kill my daughter. The sheet of paper would be blank.» You can imagine why those words left me thinking. Who would I give my life for? was the first thing I asked myself. There are several names on that list, but not many.

Then I thought, Who would I give my children’s lives for? This question, compared to the previous one, was very easy to answer: I don’t even have to think about it.

There would be no name on that list! Who in their right mind would give their child’s life for another person to live? And now the third question: For whom did God give the life of His only Son? This is the third list; Gods list. On it are the names of every human being who have been born into this world. There are the names of patriarchs, prophets, disciples, and the names of men and women who lived through the centuries to serve God and hu manity. There are also the names of Judas, Caiaphas, Nero, Hitler, and of all of us who today would prefer that these people would have never been born. Isn’t it amazing? There’s something even greater, more wonderful: your name and mine are on God’s list. What have we done to deserve to be there? The truth is that we have done much to not be on it, but «God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life» (John 3: 16, emphasis added). Blessed be the name of God!

Thank You, eternal Father, because even though I don’t deserve it,
Your beloved Son came into this dark world to suffer and to die for me.

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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2022
“GREAT IS OUR GOD!”
From: FERNANDO ZABALA
Colaboradores: Xiomara Perdomo & Angelica Cuate