Cory Asbury's "Reckless Love" has become increasingly popular within the modern church. If you've heard it, you've probably cried like a baby, because of the eloquent description of God's relentless love for his people.
This is what some of the key lines mean to me.
1. "Before I took a breath, you breathed your life in me"
Genesis 2:7 says, "Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person."
I think it's pretty spectacular that the creator of all things actively breathed us into life. All other creation was simply spoken into being, but the Lord breathed us into being. That in and of itself speaks volumes about our value.
2. "The overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God"
The first time I came back to church after over a year of hiding from God could definitely be described as overwhelming. The feelings of all my inadequacy, unworthiness, and shame were stripped away, leaving me barren and exposed. I cried for all the lost time I spent away from God and the fact that he accepted me nonetheless.
His love for us is timeless, from the beginning of the creation until the end, regardless of our mistakes in between.
While the word "reckless" has invited some criticism in it's description of God's love, I find it fitting. God's love knows no bounds; it's limitless. God's love is not based on reciprocation; it's simply given. God's love doesn't care who you are or what you've done. God's love is simply loving without borders.
3."It chases me down, fights till I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine"
This line is based on the parable in Luke 15, "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?"
I was that lost sheep, wandering away from the Shepherd. He took notice of my wandering and the dangerous grounds I entered. He left the ninety-nine to rescue me.
4. "I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still You give yourself away"
We cannot earn our salvation; it only comes through the grace of God. We deserve the beating and the murder that took place on Calvary, but Jesus graciously took our place and offered Himself as a means of salvation for the world.
5. "When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me"
When I questioned Your name, when I had forsaken You, when I traded You for the world, Your love called my name and advocated for me. His love ran after me.
6. "When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me"
When I hit rock bottom, when I saw no value in myself, when I cared so little for my life, You thought I was to die for. The Lord saw potential in me that I never saw.
7. "There's no wall You won't kick down, lie You won't tear down coming after me"
The walls I built up around myself from times of heartache and disappointment, the hard exterior I developed to shelter myself from hurt, shattered at the mention of His name. Every lie I believed about myself, every lie I had been told, broke at the seams. All because Jesus wanted my heart.
8. "You have been so, so good to me"
I'm ending on this simple line that captures the true character and relationship of Jesus. He is so, so good to us, regardless of whether or not we are to Him. Man, if the world was more like that, we wouldn't have so much pain.
While this is only a revision of my history and relation to this song, I believe it resonates on some level with a majority of humanity. We all do our fair share of wandering. It's God's love that pulls us back in.