"A Father's Love"

I often think of the price paid for my (our) salvation. Here was Jesus, with the Father, having all the blessings of eternal life and never knowing sin, coming to this sin filled earth in the form of man. God's word tells us, "but He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made into the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil. 2:7-8) Why would He do such? Jesus never sinned or caused the curse of sin in this world, yet He offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. What drove Jesus, what drove God to exchange lives?

His name was Phil Littleford. He had taken his son, Mark and two other gentleman, on an Alaskan fishing trip of a lifetime. Setting out on a quest to find running Salmon, they flew their seaplane into a secluded bay. Salmon were everywhere. It was just what they had dreamed about. By the time the day ended, landing fish after fish, they looked and their plane was sitting on dry ground. Realizing the tide had gone out, leaving their plane twenty-three feet from the water, they decided to cook some fish and would sleep in the plane that night. The next morning when they awoke, the tide had come back in and their plane was drifting in the water. Starting up the engine, they began to move, preparing to take off. Unknown to them they had hit something that punctured one of the pontoon's and it had filled with water. The extra weight caused the plane to tip and crash as they tried to take off. Everyone survived but they had no life jackets or other safety equipment on board. They used their waders as floating devices but the frigid water was a deadly threat. The current was pulling them to sea and the 12 year old Mark was not strong enough to swim against the current. The two men that had travelled with them finally made it to shore exhausted. As they stood on the shore, they watched Phil and his son Mark slowly being swept out to sea, arm in arm. The coast guard said they could not have lasted any longer than 45 minutes in the freezing water. They said the boy, being smaller in mass, would fall asleep first and die in his father's arms. Phil Littleford could have made it to shore but that meant he would have to abandon his son. He chose to die with his boy!

As I read that, my mind reflected to the dying of Jesus. We read such stories and are touched by their undying love for another. But there was more at stake for our heavenly Father. He offered up His Son, choosing to take our place, while we were hopelessly drifting to an eternal doom. God could of destroyed everyone and started over, but He chose to stay with us and His love reached out. He died so we could live! The love of the Father is too great to be comprehended and too important to be refused. How are you reaching back?