[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, October 2018]
Every now and then, along this pilgrim journey, it is possible to get so used to where you are now, that you forget where you’ve come from. I’ll expand on this …
Paul says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Paul also says we shouldn’t forget who we were before we were called. Left to our own devices, we soon begin to look down on those who don’t quite meet a standard we have set. We become proud. It is important to ask for God’s grace not to do this. As CS Lewis says, “as long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”
While I was working at Benenden hospital in Kent, a patient shared this with me:
“I dreamt that death came to me the other night,
Heaven’s gate swung open wide,
An angel with halo bright,
Ushered me inside.
And there to my astonishment
Stood people whom I had judged and labelled,
As quite unfit and spiritually disabled.
Harsh words rose to my lips, but never were set free,
For much to my surprise,
No one it seemed, expected me!”
As followers of Christ we will go to heaven not because we’ve earned the right to be there, but rather, because for reasons we may never know, God decided that we were worthy of His love. Let us receive this free gift and be eternally thankful.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, Declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55: 7-8
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Contributed by David Makanjuola; © the Author
