I
was just thinking about ...
God’s
Grace
I
had a date this morning. And though it wasn’t with my wife, I’m sure she
didn’t mind. My date was with a snow shovel and some sidewalks around the
church. Some ladies of the church were coming over early, and I was running a
bit late in getting ready so I dressed for visiting today. Didn’t have time to
put on the grungy clothes more suited for shoveling snow. Sooo, the next thing I
know, I’m out in the wet slush in my dress clothes and shoes trying to scoop a
path for the ladies to get to their cars.
“You’re gonna get wet!”
a voice came from behind. One of the ladies’ husbands was picking his way
through the slush with an umbrella in hand. I looked up to the sky to notice
what had earlier been a slight drizzle was now actual rain. And yes, I was
getting wet. I took another scoop and tried to look unbothered by the wetness
factor. “Yeah, but not much.” “Hmmm, wonder if this rain will melt the
snow from the sidewalk?” Merle smiled at me and said, “Yep, sure will. Why
do something the rain’s going to take care of?” I straightened up, looked at
the sidewalk leading to the parking lot and decided to follow Merle into the
building. “I’ll check it later and clean off anything the rain doesn’t
get.”
As I sat down at my desk, I
shook my head thinking about the silliness of my doing all that unnecessary work
that the rain will take care of in a short time; especially when doing so would
ruin my clothes. But as I sat there laughing at myself with an incredibly silly
grin on my face, a thought came to me. And the more I thought of it, the quicker
the smile faded from my face. How many times do I try to do things in an effort
to prove my worthiness to God? Boy, talk about a job that’s already been taken
care of!
I don’t do it as much as I
used to. After all, I’m a pastor who teaches saved by faith in the grace of
God. But I still catch myself occasionally doing something, hoping God will take
notice of what a great person I am. If I really stop and think about it, it
would be something on the order of trying to dig a deep hole in the middle of a
sand dune with a shovel. Even if I could get rid of some of the sins in my life,
others will come rushing in as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Just an
exercise in futility and what have I accomplished when I’m done? There would
be no hole; only an exhausted and frustrated person staring at his lack of
accomplishment. I think I’ll leave that up to God.
I hope you’re not in the
same boat I am. But I’m willing to bet that occasionally, you do some of the
goofy things I do. Don’t let it get you down. When you catch yourself clearing
the sidewalks of your life that God has already done, think about the gift that
has been given to you in his son, Jesus Christ. And then go inside and have some
hot chocolate with some family or friends. As always,
Drop
on by anytime, I'll be here and so will God,
Dennis