Even Me?

Do your thoughts ever wander to the magnitude of your sin?  Not necessarily that you are or were a criminal or a terrible person but that you've accumulated so many sins and you keep on slipping, keep on failing, keep on flopping around in your faith walk. Do you wonder, sometimes, "Will God really save someone like me?"  Do you ever wonder if you're really righteous enough?

Well, I can tell you - no and yes. No, you're not righteous enough and yes, God really will save someone like you. Jesus said plainly, "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners" (Matt 9:13).  The apostle Paul amplified this truth in saying, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners —of whom I am the worst"(1 Tim 1:15).  

He went on to explain that, "I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life" (1 Tim 1:16).

If you are a frequent flyer on Repeat Mistakes Airline, if failing again is the one way you've truly been consistent, if your "straight and narrow path" looks more like an Etch A Sketch screen produced by a four year old, then I have Good News: God "is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Pet 3:9).

I'm not wanting to excuse bad choices or poor performance, I'm trying to explain God's response to man's sinful nature - it's called "GRACE."  The truth is, none of us are good enough, none of us merit salvation: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— …" (Eph 2:8).  Keep reaching out to Him when you fall, when you fail, when you flop for He is faithful and grace abounds. 

Jus' Sayn.