Ashes to Ashes: We All Fall Down
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:23-24
There is something quite offensive about this verse, and many others like it. The Bible pulls no punches when it comes to our ability to fulfill God's requirements for righteousness. According to scriptures, the tattle-tale and the terrorist are united by a common bent to sin. The manipulator and the molester share the same condition. The prideful and the predator, the arrogant and the adulterer, the hypocrite and the heathen – they all suffer the same sin-induced separation from God, and they all have just as much chance to be justified by the Grace of God through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
I don't know where I got it, but somewhere in all my years of attending church, I acquired a sense that God loved me more simply because I went to church. Oh, I knew we said that Jesus loved everyone, but surely he loved the preacher and his kids a little more, right? Surely Jesus loved the perfect attendees more than the Christmas/Easter crowd. Surely he would overlook my little sins because of my status, right? Right?
It happened to me, just as it will to everyone who is of that mindset. My pride went before destruction and my haughtiness before a fall. I came face to face with my sin, and what's more, with God's attitude toward it. My sin was not innocent or insignificant to God. My sin was the thing that stood in the way of God's will in my life. And I was not unique in that. Sin will always separate the sinner from the will of God; there is simply no way around it.
If you've made it this far, perhaps you know precisely what thing currently stands between you and the Will of God. Perhaps you just have a sense that something isn't right, but you can't put your finger on what it is. Perhaps you don't perceive anything out of line at all – and maybe, you're right. The season of Lent, which begins Ash Wednesday, the 25th of February, is the traditional time in the life of the Church to examine our lives and see if there is anything standing between us and God. It is a time of preparation as we look forward to Easter.
For the forty days of Lent (Mondays – Saturdays) we fast something, be it food or activity, to share in the sufferings of Christ, that we might also share in his glory; we examine our own fallen state, that we might wholly rely on God's grace for our redemption.
Homework this week: Pray, "Lord, reveal to me the areas in my life where I have sinned against you and others. Show me where I have resisted your authority in my life and give me the strength to submit my life to You."
There is something quite offensive about this verse, and many others like it. The Bible pulls no punches when it comes to our ability to fulfill God's requirements for righteousness. According to scriptures, the tattle-tale and the terrorist are united by a common bent to sin. The manipulator and the molester share the same condition. The prideful and the predator, the arrogant and the adulterer, the hypocrite and the heathen – they all suffer the same sin-induced separation from God, and they all have just as much chance to be justified by the Grace of God through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
I don't know where I got it, but somewhere in all my years of attending church, I acquired a sense that God loved me more simply because I went to church. Oh, I knew we said that Jesus loved everyone, but surely he loved the preacher and his kids a little more, right? Surely Jesus loved the perfect attendees more than the Christmas/Easter crowd. Surely he would overlook my little sins because of my status, right? Right?
It happened to me, just as it will to everyone who is of that mindset. My pride went before destruction and my haughtiness before a fall. I came face to face with my sin, and what's more, with God's attitude toward it. My sin was not innocent or insignificant to God. My sin was the thing that stood in the way of God's will in my life. And I was not unique in that. Sin will always separate the sinner from the will of God; there is simply no way around it.
If you've made it this far, perhaps you know precisely what thing currently stands between you and the Will of God. Perhaps you just have a sense that something isn't right, but you can't put your finger on what it is. Perhaps you don't perceive anything out of line at all – and maybe, you're right. The season of Lent, which begins Ash Wednesday, the 25th of February, is the traditional time in the life of the Church to examine our lives and see if there is anything standing between us and God. It is a time of preparation as we look forward to Easter.
For the forty days of Lent (Mondays – Saturdays) we fast something, be it food or activity, to share in the sufferings of Christ, that we might also share in his glory; we examine our own fallen state, that we might wholly rely on God's grace for our redemption.
Homework this week: Pray, "Lord, reveal to me the areas in my life where I have sinned against you and others. Show me where I have resisted your authority in my life and give me the strength to submit my life to You."