Jeremy Camp - The Story's Not Over Devotional Series Sample

4. Should’ve Been Me

“Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on Him the sins of us all.”

Isaiah 35:4-6 (NLT)

When I think about the cross, I’m always reminded it is because of my sin that Jesus, an innocent man, suffered so much. I am the guilty one who deserves death instead of Him. I should have experienced the pain and rejection. But because of His immense love and unending grace He took my place. It never gets old to me.  I’m forever grateful, and blown away, that Jesus loved me that much that He would take the weight and punishment of what you and I deserve. He gives us the freedom to come to Him at any time and make the greatest exchange of hope for our hurting. 

We don’t have to clean ourselves up first to come to Him. He has already paid the price and made the way clear for us to take away our dirt and our shame. Not only that, but He also says that we can come boldly to His throne (the place of intimacy) for grace and help in time of need. It would have been enough to just have Jesus take our place, but we have absolute freedom to also have an intimate close relationship with the King of Kings. Outside of Christianity, there is no other religion in this world whose god comes down to them first. Everything else is focused on constantly trying to prove your own righteousness and trying to prove your own worth, but with Jesus – He loved us first. He made us worthy because of His righteousness – and no matter how many times I think of all these things, I’m humbled and overwhelmed by God’s love. 

I pray you will encounter His love afresh today!