The child that could do no wrong

Growing up in my family, I was the youngest of three girls.  I was very shy and timid.  I loved to dance and sing, cared for little creatures like my pet mice, and lived in my roller skates.  Overall, I'd say I was a pretty good kid.  I was never called to the Principal's office, never put my gum under the table, and never talked back to adults.  This is not to say that I was perfect.  There was that time when I hid behind my backyard fence and sprayed the ice cream man with the hose...  Or the day when I threw my neighbors shoes on their roof.  (In Hawaii, we take off our shoes and leave them at the front door...)  I was duly punished and turned from the error of my ways.

Ephesians 1:4 says this,

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

The part in this verse that stuck out for me this week is, "without fault in his eyes."  It amazes me that God can see me as holy and without fault.  Even before the world began, God's plan was to make me the child who could do no wrong.  Was I innocent?  No.  Was I without sin? No.  But God's plan included the sacrifice that Jesus made, and that by faith I could be holy.  That is love.

And it goes on,

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. (Eph. 1:5)

He did it because He wanted to and it gave him great pleasure.  This humbles me.  God chooses me, redeems me, and adopts me ~ all for His pleasure.  And yet I am the one who benefits.  It doesn't make earthly sense.  But I am also reminded that His ways are higher than my ways.  This sacred romance continues as I am swept off my feet once again.