There are significant moments in all of our lives that direct our attention back to God’s love and grace. 

Pastor and author Alex Early shares a compelling story from his book The Reckless Love of God.  We are reminded that God’s love is real and personal for every one of us.

Alex describes the first tipping point to personally experiencing God’s reckless love in his life when he was 14 years old.

“When I was about 14 years old I had gotten in a ton of trouble and was failing all my classes and got kicked out of school. My dad actually had to come and pick me up from school; they wouldn’t send me to in school suspension…I was toast. My dad brought me home and it was a Wednesday afternoon; he basically grounded me forever.”

Alex couldn’t stay in his room forever, of course, so he asked his parents for the grace to allow him to attend an event at church.

“That night I came to him and my mom and said, ‘Hey can I go to church tonight?’ and after moments of apprehension they said, ‘Sure, no funny business. Don’t get in trouble.’

“I went to church that night – lo and behold – I got in a fight and broke a kid’s glasses.”

Alex explains what happened later that evening during the car ride home with his mom.

“My mom picked me up from church, ‘How was church?’ I jumped in her car and was like, ‘Oh, it was fine!’ We get home and the phone rings at about 10 o’clock and of course my heart stopped. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh I know that’s the kids’ parents…and it was. Two minutes later my door flew open and it’s like, ‘What have you done?!’”

“The next morning my dad said ‘Hey, clean yourself up around lunchtime, we’re going somewhere nice for lunch.’ I thought to myself, OK this is strange.”

To Alex’s surprise, he learned about God’s reckless love in his life for the very first time.

“We got cleaned up, just my dad and I went downtown to Peachtree Plaza, a great restaurant in downtown Atlanta called The Sun Dial. It’s a restaurant that rotates and gives you a whole view of the city as you eat. We didn’t talk all the way downtown and we get there we sit down, dad orders our steaks. As we’re eating our steak my dad just starts talking to me and said ‘You know you’re really making a mess of your life, don’t do you want better?’ I was like, ‘I do.’”

Highlight: Experiencing our father’s love

‘Jesus loves me, this I know’