To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy . . . be glory, majesty, power and authority.  Jude 1:24-25

During the holiday season, I sat down and put together a 1000-piece holiday puzzle. I took pleasure in assembling the colors and pictures to resemble the image on the box. To my dismay, when I was trying to finish my puzzle, I discovered one piece was missing. The puzzle was flawed. I was so disappointed that I was ready to throw it away, to abandon the puzzle and to start another one. But then I looked at it again and decided to keep it. It was still a beautiful picture, and I was not going to throw it away because it was not perfect.

I think God sees us in the same way. Each of us has the potential to become who God intends us to be, but we come up short. We are all flawed. I am thankful that when I sin or fall short of God’s hopes and expectations, God does not become discouraged and abandon me. God still sees our value and refuses to throw us aside. Rather, God saves us through Jesus Christ!

Loving God, thank you for overlooking our flaws and for loving us despite our shortcomings. Amen.