unnecessary extravagnace

Continuing on the theme of extravagance...

I went to see The Hunger Games the other day.  Perhaps my favorite part of the story is when Katniss, the main character, decorates the body of her friend Rue with flowers.  As I watched that scene play out in the film, a phrase popped into my mind.

Love is unnecessary extravagance in the face of evil.  

I'm sure someone has said that before, otherwise it wouldn't have been in my head, but I couldn't tell you who or when or where to look.

Jesus didn't have to die on the cross to save me from my sin, not that there was another way, just that he didn't have to save me.  In the same way, I suppose there is nothing in this world I am really obligated to do.  I don't have to be a nice person, or a good parent, or a law-abiding citizen.

It was a new way to look at salvation for me.

When speakers get up and say, "You don't have to, you GET to," in that smarmy, well-rehearsed manner that makes you want to slap them, it means nothing.  But when someone draws beauty from pain as a reminder that there is something deeper and more true than this moment, then I get it.

So as a continuation of the last post, I think I'm entering a season of prayer for more extravagance in my life.  Not the kind of extravagance that tries to curry favor or spoil a child, in fact, I'm not exactly sure what I'm praying for.  Thankfully, we have the Spirit who intercedes for us in accordance with God's will, and his groaning is beyond what I can ever ask or imagine.  So here goes nothing.