Laying It All On the Line

So what do you have that you would willingly die for?

I don't think I ever grasped how significant this postulation is. Quite simply: what is it that you would sacrifice it all for?

I think I understand this more now since the birth of my son. When I see him, so innocent and perfect, I know that I would die to protect him. I'd willingly sacrifice my entire existence for him. I'd jump in front of a bus, attack a grizzly bear, whatever. No questions, no hesitation, no remorse. Done.

If I think about harm coming to him, I see red. My heart pounds, and I can hardly stand it. My emotions get the best of me, and it brings a tear to my eye if I think about him suffering any sort of pain.

And it suddenly occurred to me: I would do anything in the world to keep him safe. I would gladly trade places to keep him from suffering any pain. If it was his life or mine, I'd give mine in an instant. It's not something that would require a moment's thought. It's a done deal.

Now I think about soldiers out there, willingly laying down their lives for their country, and our freedom and security. The cynical part of me wonders whether they know what they were getting in to. They willingly sign on for a job that will; in all likelihood, result in their death. Did they really grasp the concept of what it is they are risking, the cynical part of my brain asks.

I think they do. The perception of a hard, cruel killer, who blasts away with no remorse is perhaps the most unfair characterization of the military that the liberal media has ever painted. Sure, they have to kill. But they are just as much targets as shooters. That makes them a willing sacrifice for something they believe in. Something they feel called to do. Indeed, I think the essence of a solider is love.

Love is what calls them to duty, to risk everything for what it is they believe in. If my experience is any indication, there is nothing else in the world that would drive a man to lay down his life. In the end, it's all about love.

Now I picture Christ. What in the world could motivate a person to have the very flesh flayed from his back, to have a crown of thorns stuck into his head, to have nails driven through his bones, pinning him to a cross? We see in the Bible that he knew it was coming. He knew what waited for him. With all the power of Creation at his fingertips, he could have stopped it. He didn't have to go through with it. He could have walked away, and I don't think history could have judged him harshly for it. Our human experience could not fathom willingly taking on that sort of physical agony.

But there was a debt that had to be paid. The sin of humankind had to be washed away. The scales had to be balanced. Humanity couldn't carry that cross. So God took it upon himself. He made a part of himself to come to Earth, and pay that price. Why?

Love. He so loved us that he'd lay it all on the line for us. Like a soldier dying for what he believed and loved in. Like a parent who would gladly die, gladly trade places with a suffering child than to see them in torment.

I understand now. I never did before.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for another."