Wooo! This song gives me goosebumps! If you want to listen to it a second time while you grab your Bible to look up references, go ahead.
Matthew West’s inspiration for writing this song comes from the thief on the cross (Luke 23:32-43) and the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). West said, “I read the story of the thief on the cross finding forgiveness in his last breaths and the story of the prodigal son being welcomed back home into the arms of a waiting father, and my heart flooded with the feeling that those stories apply to me.”
West also said the heartbeat of this song was from Psalm 8:3-4 (ESV):
“When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him.”
David’s words written in Psalm 8 are surely wonderful and breathtaking. Read all of Psalm 8 now and meditate on it with me.
God, the Creator of everything, who placed the countless stars exactly in their designated places, and who even knows each star by name; this is the same God that has His mind set on each one of us at all times.
Does that not blow YOUR mind?! Why is it such a big deal that His mind is set on us anyways? Because He loves us, more than He loves Himself!
God loved every single one of us so much, that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins (John 3:16-21). Jesus was there at the beginning of everything (John 1:1-5). Jesus later stepped down from His throne in heaven to humbly become a human being, all in order to die a miserable death on the cross for us (Philippians 2:1-11).
But before Jesus died on the cross, He took ALL of our sins onto Himself and became sin itself (2 Corinthians 5:21). He did this so that when He died on the cross, all our sins would be put to death and defeated, once and for all. Jesus paid the debt of our sin in full and absorbed God’s wrath for them in our stead.
The grave could not hold Jesus; He rose from the dead, like He told us He would (Matthew 28:5-6). By rising from the dead, He defeated death, once and for all. Jesus then ascended back into heaven in His glorified body to sit back on His throne, filling the entire universe with His presence, until the time when He will visibly return to judge all the earth (Acts 1:6-11 and Ephesians 4:10).
God’s unfailing and unconditional love for each one of us is why He sacrificed Himself in order to eradicate the curse of sin and pave the narrow pathway for us to have everlasting life with Him in heaven. Believe in Him and repent of your sins and you will be saved (Mark 1:15).
We are all like the prodigal son. When we hear God calling to us in the midst of our pigsty, He calls us His own. Stop rejecting His love for you. If you stop rejecting Him, salvation is immediate and automatic. He will run out to you, embrace you, and prepare a feast in celebration for you coming back.
So yes, I think West said it perfectly when he said that God had me (and you) on His mind. He was thinking about us:
+ While God was creating everything.
+ While God was casting Adam and Eve out of the garden.
+ While God was warning His people through His prophets.
+ While Jesus was sweating drops of blood.
+ While Jesus was being scourged.
+ While Jesus was hanging on the cross.
+ While Jesus went to hell to declare His victory.
+ While Jesus rose from the dead.
+ While Jesus ascended back into heaven to sit on His throne.
+ And He is still thinking about us, always.
Have no fear; He is always with us and He will never forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8). One day, when Jesus returns, for all who are saved, He will wipe away all our tears and take away all our suffering (Revelation 21:1-4). He is in heaven preparing a place for us and will soon come call us home (John 14:1-4).
Soli Deo Gloria!
Philip Frank
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