Extravagance is generally considered an undesirable trait. It’s defined as excessive, wasteful, exorbitant. Yet, when I look at God, I see extravagance as one of his attributes. I ask you to consider with me how excessive God is in his dealings with you.

Think about his mercy, which keeps you from having to pay the due penalty for your sins. The Bible tells us his mercies are new every day, and they last forever. He is just piling up mercy upon mercy each day, extravagant mercy, given to you without charge.

Then there’s his grace, which goes beyond mercy to give you undeserved blessings, and Scripture tells us he makes all grace abound to us in all things at all times, giving us all we need, so that we will abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8). Abundant, rich, extravagant grace.

As for God’s forgiveness, he goes beyond forgiving and separates your sins from you as far as the east is from the west, then proceeds to forget. Can you forgive and forget? No, that’s God’s kind of forgiveness—excessive, extravagant.

And think of this, not only do we have a God who allows us to come to him, we have a God who seeks for us. Can you imagine that?

Then there’s the extravagance of his creation. The unending blend of colors, the profuse variety and quantity of flowers, the breathtaking sunsets, the fragrant and delicious smells, the lush beauty of nature. God is absolutely lavish in his creation.

And then, not only are we allowed to worship him, we can call him Abba Father and come boldly to his throne. Not only can we accept him as our Savior, but he also comes to abide in us. The abundance of God’s love toward us is beyond our mental comprehension.

When we consider God’s extravagance toward us, as an old song says, how can we do less than live for him completely—after all he’s done for us.

A Biblical View of Self – 5