Extravagant Mercy

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

BAD NEWS - GOOD NEWS
 
"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God."  Romans 3:10-11

I can not be fully moved by the Gospel and the power of the cross until I admit to myself that I am not good at the core of me.  Left to myself, I would not even want God.  My desire to come to Jesus was fueled by a gift of grace, something I couldn't conjure up on my own.  It's hard to admit that I would be capable of any sin.  Instead, I want to make one horizontal comparison after another.  "But God, I didn't do what that person did."

During a meal they shared, just before Jesus was arrested and brought to trial, Jesus revealed to Peter that in the next few hours, Peter would betray Him.  He explained that, when pressured, Peter would deny even knowing Him.  Peter's face fell at the news.  I can't help but wonder if he thought, "What?!  I'm capable of that?"  That was the bad news.  But what followed was the good news for any of us who are fixated on how much we are bent to sin.  Jesus said to Peter, "Don't be worried and upset."  There was mercy before the betrayal.

A few weeks ago, I had a short time to spend with a 13-year-old boy who is in trouble with the authorities for stealing.  He is on the verge of going into permanent juvenile detention.  He attended a day of my teaching while under house arrest and I saw him soak in the message.  During a break, He came to talk with me about his life.

I asked him point blank.  "Why are you stealing?"

"Because I want the kids in school to be impressed by what I have.  How do I stop?"

"You have to treasure Jesus more than you treasure the payoff you get from stealing."  I explained that the only way that would happen was to meditate on the Word of God and fall in love with Christ.  The payoff of being loved by Jesus would far outweigh the reward of how he felt when he held stolen goods in his hands.

As I think about this young kid, orphaned, trying to survive by grabbing what he can in this world, I realize that I am faced with similar choices as I am inclined to run from the truth of who I really am without the power of Christ in my life.

1.) I can live trying to pretend that I am better than I am but then I take the cross lightly. 

 2.) I can live overwhelmed by my sin, hate myself for failing, but then think that the cross is not for someone bad like me.

3.) I can embrace the bad news that, left to myself, I would not seek Christ.  But His extravagant mercy reaches out to save me and entirely change my nature.  The Gospel is for me, still, every day.  

Bad news ~ I am a sinner.  Good news ~ I am His, daily changed by His grace.

There aren't enough ways to praise You for what You do for me everyday. I boast in You.  Amen