Marcus Mumford captures it all. He is sitting and sobering up with Paul in Romans 7.The things I don't want to do
I just keep doing
The things I want to do
I can't do
What a wretched man I am becoming
What a wretched man I have become
Who will save me?
From this body of death that is looming
From this funeral parlour I keep on seeing
In the corner of my eye while pointing my gun
In the corner of my mind while ignoring the sun
It's coming for me, it's coming for me
What you asked just cannot be done
This mindless heart is what I've become
This weight on my back is just too heavy
The holy life just wasn't for me
I keep smearing my heart all over my sleeve
Someone comes and wipes it off and takes it from me
What's left is hardly mine, just shadow of myself
For I find I'm entwined in a battle over my health
And I can't win, and I can't win
What you asked just cannot be done
This mindless heart is what I've become
This weight on my back was just too heavy
The holy life just wasn't for me
The holy life just wasn't for me
But what you asked just cannot be done
This mindless heart was what I've become
This weight on my back was just too heavy
You say the holy life still waits for me
You say the holy life still waits for me
He is looking at his wretched sinful state.
I hear it so often. ‘I’m a good person really’ as they check themselves against some self referencing system of measurement. I don’t murder, or swear (much) or steal … The list goes on and on. I trade off one sin against another because to me the later sin is not as bad as the other, so therefore I am good.
We blindly go from day to day considering that we are good.
Rubbish, the prophet Isaiah tells us that our righteous acts are like filthy rags.
So what do we do. We obviously can’t rely on ourselves. We can’t make ourselves good enough for the holiness of God.
Jesus steps on the stage of our misery. He shows grace and kindness to our place of judgment. He tells us we are loved and forgiven.
Some Christians base their identity on being a sinner. I think they have it wrong – or only half right. You are not simply a sinner; you are a deeply loved sinner. And there is all the difference in the world between the two. David G. Benner The Gift of Being Yourself. The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery
I am that wretched man. I am that man in need of mercy and grace.Justice – is getting what is deserved
Mercy – is not getting what is deserved
Grace – is getting what is not deserved
Johnson, D.W Fifty Seven words that change the World.
Like you, I am human and in need of some thing or someone beyond the shackles of humanity to help me.
I have Jesus.
Paul continues
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Romans 8:1Jesus graces my life with his forgiveness, his presence and his vision for me.
Grace - U2
Today is the day to show grace to those around you.
