come |kʌm| verb ( past came |keɪm|; past participle come ) 1 [ no obj., usu. with adverbial of direction ] move or travel towards or into a place thought of as near or familiar to the speaker: He called her to come, just as she was.
I’m just now winding down from this weekend’s festivities. I hosted a Great Gatsby party in honor of my husband Field. This month, he will be 36, and I wanted everything to be special. I can’t wait to share all of the photos and the overall experience with all of you. In my devotion time today, I began to reflect on all of the wonderful things that I am grateful for.
As I began to make a list of my gratitude, one thing began to stand out to me: I began to thank God for accepting us all as we are. There is nothing that we can do that will make us more special to Him. We are the apple of His eye and the joy of His creation. We are His eternal masterpiece.
I have been hosting a small women’s Bible study in my home each month called, Equipped by Faith, for nearly two years now. This is a place where women can come to let down their guard, open their hearts, and be authentically real with their sisters, and with their God. This is a place where women can come as they are, with no pressure to be perfect and with no set expectations.
I wanted Equipped by Faith to be an atmosphere of acceptance and love because I feel as though women (and people in general) put so much pressure on themselves to be perfect these days. We feel as though we have to have everything together. We must have the perfect family, the perfect kids, the perfect spouse, the perfect job, the perfect car, the perfect house, the perfect meals, and the list goes on…
Sadly, this pursuit of perfection can even hinder our relationship with God. We allow our sin to separate us from the God we love when we begin to believe the lie that our mistakes make us “too unworthy” to come boldly into His presence.
“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4:16
God asks us to come boldly into His presence, just as we are. Christ came into this world to save sinners! Jesus was known for surrounding himself with the outcasts of society. He spent his whole life purposefully engaging the people most of us have spent our whole lives trying to avoid.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is in John Chapter 8, where the Pharisees and religious leaders bring a woman caught in adultery to Jesus. They were trying to trap Jesus into saying something they could use against Him later, but of course–Jesus could not be trapped.
They threw this woman down on the ground before Jesus to be judged, naked and ashamed, in front of all of her accusers. She was clearly in the wrong. She was clearly a sinner. She was naked, and caught. But as she lowered her head in her shame, Jesus bent down beside her in her brokenness and began writing in the dirt.
He looked up to her accusers and said, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone,” and knelt beside her once more.
Her accusers left, one by one, until she was left alone with Jesus, her Redeemer.
Could you imagine her surprise when she looked up from her certain fate to find that there were absolutely no stones to be cast? Could you imagine the weight that was lifted from her shoulders when she realized that even in her brokenness, God was her defender? Could you imagine the depth of her gratitude when she realized how deep the love of God was for her, even at her lowest point of shame and guilt?
Many of us think we need to get our lives in order before we can come to God. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous; but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32
When I was just beginning to pursue a deeper relationship with God, a friend of mine and I used to go to church on Saturday nights wearing large coats to cover up the clubbing dresses we were wearing underneath. We would listen to the sermon, sing the songs–and then go dancing and drinking all night right afterward. I laugh at this now, because I know that even then, God was lovingly pursuing me and planting seeds deep within my heart, though some might say I was “unworthy” to be sitting in that pew.
You see, it is by God’s love and grace that we are saved. Not by our works or by our deeds. There is nothing we can ever do to earn His love or salvation on our own.
But that’s the beauty of it. That’s true, everlasting love. That’s what makes this the greatest love we will ever know. True love changes hearts.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8
So, come as you are today. If you’re broken, sad, discouraged or tired–come. If you’re hopeful, encouraged, leaning a little too much on your own successes–come. If you’re weary or if you’re ready–come. God’s love is great enough for us all.
Let us come to Him as we are, and leave forever changed. So we can go, and sin no more. In Jesus’ Name.
XO-
Sabrina