Edges

A great artist will tell you, at its core, paintings are about soft and hard edges. Great art, they’ll explain, regardless of genre, is about limiting the hard edges. Strategically placing the few you have, and softening as many as possible.

The same is true in life. We may admire the granite jaw of our heroes, and it may draw is to them, but their heart keeps us there. It’s less about vulnerability, and more about relating to others. It’s about compassion, hope, and friendship. While we love when our heroes are fearless, at the same time, we want them to understand our fears.

My heroes may have fought those who attacked the broken with a needed ruggedness, but that was not their motivation. Their motivation was to protect the hurting. That was the motivation of Our Savior when He faced a battle.

Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Christ’s eye rested not on the foe in front of Him, but the fallen He longed to rescue. The King Of Kings strength is without equal, yet His heart is even greater. We have a God who knew what it was like to build solar systems, and yet He was born in a Manger.

The God we serve, walked on the clouds, yet loved us enough to walk the shores of Galilee. Finally our God softened the hard edges of our failures, on a rugged cross, and did more than soften the edges. He repainted the canvas. There is a song about Grace, Brittany Potter of The Livingstons, a precious family member wrote, called Grace. It’s beautiful words speaks so eloquently of this. I encourage you to seek out the album Unexpected Journey.

I mention it because that song will change your perspective on Grace more than anything I could say. I will only say, when you see the rigid suffering of The Lord at Calvary, and the softness He showed by volunteering to take our place, it’s a perfect masterpiece of how much He loves us.