A Reckless Extravagant Love

By Keona Tann @ICFWriters

When my son, Jake, was 5 I enrolled him in swimming lessons. We were spending a lot of time around water and in boats so it was important for him to have water skills. One day we arrived and Jake was actually excited about his lesson, this was a huge milestone as he had previously not enjoyed them. As we walked past the deep end, to join his group on the other side of the pool, another excited child ran past Jake. I’m not sure how it happened, but next thing I knew Jake was in the deep end and sinking! I had one of those slow-motion moments. With great clarity I saw Jake sinking; I heard the gasps from the mums at the opposite end of the pool and saw their horrified faces; I saw the swimming teacher turn and start her way towards Jake but I felt she was going to be too late.
I felt as if I was moving too slow but I knew that I HAD to act. I took my handbag off my shoulder and placed it on top of Sarah (my daughter who was 3 at the time) and as I pushed her to the ground I yelled: ‘stay!’. Then without thinking I laid flat on my tummy and reached my arm in (jumper and all) to grab Jake. As I was reaching down I saw Jake sinking deeper and deeper. Just before Jake slipped out of reach I somehow grabbed him and pulled him out one handed, the strength to do that was simply divine intervention. As I hugged a wet crying Jake I wept tears of relief. I was hesitant that he would want to get back in the pool but thankfully he had a great lesson. I was so grateful that he was ok and I didn’t mind sitting there with a soggy jumper for the entire lesson.

Recently I was reflecting upon that story with Sarah (now 15) and talking about how instincts simply ‘kick in’ and you act without thinking. Sarah had a similar incident with her cousin, she was with family at a pool and her cousin was walking on the ledge between the spa and the pool when he tumbled in. Sarah said she quickly reached for him and grabbed him, scraping her leg on the pool edge in the process. At the time she didn’t feel the scrape but when things settled down her leg started stinging. Sarah’s cousin was fine thanks to her quick reaction and actions.

I’m sure you can easily think of stories where people have reacted out of instinct to rescue a loved one or even acted to save the life of a complete stranger. But the greatest story of all, for me, is the actions that Jesus took to set me free.

There is a song which I absolutely love that talks about the extravagant love of God, it’s a song called “Reckless Love”. I listened to one YouTube version where the songwriter, Cory Asbury, explained his thoughts behind the song. He opens with the passage from Luke‬ ‭15:1-7,‬ which is a parable of a shepherd who leaves behind 99 of his sheep in search of a missing sheep. When the shepherd finds his lost sheep he joyfully carries the sheep back to the others. Then Cory goes on to explain his lyrics: “When we use the phrase ‘the reckless love of God’, we are not saying that God Himself is reckless, He’s not crazy. We are however saying that the way He loves is in many regards quite so. What I mean is this: He is utterly unconcerned with the consequences of His actions with regards to His own safety, comfort and wellbeing…” Cory finishes declaring that Jesus laid His life down for us in pursuit of our hearts.‬‬‬

Jesus did not just react out of instinct, He knew the path set before Him and walked it with great obedience. He responded out of pure love and a desire to save us. Jesus knew that it would cost Him everything! In John 10:10 Jesus explains that he had come to give us life in abundance, He gave His all for us so that we could walk in divine freedom. It’s a powerful and life changing promise!

I pray that today, right now, you can know the One who laid down His life for You. That You can realise that God is with you, as promised in ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭7:14. Grasp hold of the truth that Jesus offers you life in abundance, as promised in John 10:10. Know that Holy Spirit is ready and waiting to be your Helper, Comforter, Advocate and Intercessor, as promised in John 14:26.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Many blessings, Keona

For most of my life I struggled with sickness. The 2 dominant afflictions were endometriosis (for 28 years) and adrenal fatigue (I was severely debilitated for 28 months and the recovery has been a journey of 11 months so far). In September 2016 God declared healing over my life. This set me on a path of restoration and transformation. My passion for writing was reignighted and I wrote the following mission statement: I desire to impact the world through the words I share. I long to enrich, empower and encourage others whilst delivering my stories with empathy and understanding. “He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭40:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I've started a weekly blog which you can find at: https://keonajtann.wordpress.com/ I'm currently working on my testimony as well as my journey with endometriosis and adrenal fatigue. I hope that I'll launch my first book soon.