Jersey day

Remember homecoming week in high school?  Jersey Day?  Remember how excited you were when the stud quarterback of the football team said he wanted YOU to wear his jersey on jersey day?  Remember how it felt to put his jersey on that morning? 

Yeah.  That never happened to me either.

But I do remember the anticipation of wondering if one of the football players would ask me to wear his jersey and if so, which player it would be.  I also happened to be friends with the girl who DOES remember that day.  And  I heard all about how amazing it was that Mr. Stud picked her of all people to wear his jersey and how proud she was to be "his" that day.   I saw it in her, too.  Beaming from within, smiling ear to ear.  It didn't matter that it was just a day, or just a jersey.  She was linked to him; she was identified with him all day long.  The back of her jersey said so.

I've been thinking about what it means to belong to something that's greater than me.  The way that it feels to be linked to something or someone of significance.  If you grew up in a small town and were fortunate enough to have a family name that meant something and was respected in the town, you know the feeling.  The way it feels when you introduce yourself to a stranger and they say, "Oooooh, you're so-and-so's daughter!"  That's the emotion I'm referring to.  It's a pride.  A fullness.  A secure feeling.  Now imagine feeling that way because the Creator of the universe chose YOU to wear His jersey.  Imagine what it would feel like to truly belong to the Savior of the world.  Not just for jersey day, but for eternity.  That would be crazy!  What's crazier yet?  If you're a believer in Christ, this is already true of you.  In the Bible, 1 Peter 2:9,  Peter says of those who are believers,  "But you are a chosen people, a royal preisthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness and into His wonderful light."

I love the descriptors used in this verse.  "But YOU are a chosen people, a royal preisthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness and into His wonderful light."

Isn't that what we all want, really?  I know it's what I want.  To have the star of the universe look through a crowd of people and to have His eyes settle on me.  To truly see me.  Tainted past.  Wicked heart.  Troubled soul.  And  to choose me still.  To call me.  To take off my filthy rags and dress me with a new garment.  A jersey saying I belong on his team.  And His team?  Not just a small town football team that's gonna go 3 and 9  this  season.  God's team has already won.  Every game.  His team is a holy team.  A royal team.  Why do I long for something I already possess?   I belong to Him.  I am His.  Oh that I would have eyes to see this reality and that I would never grow tired of what it feels like to belong to The Most High King!

The second half of that verse is also quite poignant.  "...a people belonging to God that you may declare the Excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness and into His wonderful light."  He didn't choose me to continue walking in darkness, living a narcissistic life, wallowing in my past failures and current inadequacies.  He called me out of darkness and into His wonderful light.  For it's in His wonderful light where I am able to declare His excellencies.  Where I am able to shout to the world, THIS is my God!  Taste and see that He is GOOD!  Do you see what He has done in me?  I deserve to roll around in this muck that I've created, but He's pulled me out of the darkness into His wonderful light!  Not because of anything I've done or ever will do, but simply because He's chosen me.  Praise be to God! 

Because I belong to Him and was chosen completely outside of anything I've done or will do, I am free.  Free to declare His excellencies.  Free to walk in the gifts and experiences He's given me.  Free to fail miserably.  Free to get back up and try again.  Free to be human.  Free to love without expectations.  Free to blog about something I struggle daily to believe.

Oh God, give us the faith to believe that Your grace truly is enough.  The faith to believe that our position of belonging on Your team and standing in Your light can never be taken away and never earned.  Help us to walk in this moment, today, with a sense of pride and security and fullness that comes from belonging to the great I AM.