Consider a new mother home alone with her baby. Suddenly she’s awakened by the smell of smoke. The house is on fire. Her only thought is for her baby. She races down the smoke-filled hall without a thought for her own safety. She grabs him in her arms, shields his face from the flames with her hands, unmindful of the pain and the sting and the flames. Her baby is her first concern.
You, dear friend, you are Jesus’ first concern. His shepherd heart goes out to you. He left the brightness of his Father’s side for you to come into this world filled with the smoke of our sin. He came to rescue you. On the cross he endured the fires of our hell, those hopeless, god-forsaken griefs and pains and terrors -- all unimaginable. He endured it willingly for you. For you are his first concern.