Reckless Love was the worship song of the year and my personal favorite worship song this year, as well. It’s probably a lot of other people’s favorite too, but maybe for different reasons. I know I have been blessed by this song and many others have as well. It has ministered to my spirit many times during the praise and worship portion of my devotions.
Let’s look at some of the verses and scripture associated with it to look more closely at its meaning.
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
In this verse the writer of the song was inspired by, Matthew 18:12-14 Parable of the Lost Sheep:
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.”
To most people leaving the 99 for the one doesn’t make sense. Thank GOD that HIS love is beyond our comprehension and understanding.
Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me
You have been so, so kind to me
Clearly this verse is expressing the fact that GOD is the beginning, the end and the middle. HE is fully sovereign and in control. If, you look at that verse it seems to coincide with Psalm 139:13 – 16.
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret,
and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
and in Your book they all were written,
‘The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.’
I think one of the most powerful evidences of GOD’s love for us is in Matthew 8:
“When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And JESUS put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”
I think if any of us touched a person with leprosy we would be called reckless. Touching a leper is reckless, touching a leper and healing him, that’s Reckless Love.
I thank GOD that HIS love for me is reckless. I was that lost sheep that HE left the 99 for. I thank GOD that as the song says :
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
When we try to understand GOD’s love, it is difficult. We can only look at it from our human limitations. We try to understand it and express it in words and song, but can only do so from our own personal perspective. Only when we arrive in heaven and are in HIS presence will we fully understand the extent of HIS “Reckless” love.
Thank you LORD for revealing the nature of YOUR Love and the depths of YOUR Love through Scripture and this song. To us, YOUR Love for us is illogical; beyond our human understanding.
It isn’t until we reach Heaven that we’ll realize that God was not as reckless as we thought. Thank you LORD for being relentless and appearing reckless in your pursuit of us.
Mark T.