Saved from myself

In a recent meeting with the leadership team of the church, my temper overcame good judgment and a good friend stepped in to save me from myself. “I don’t think we need to go there,” he said firmly! I can think of so many other occasions when good advice or even confrontation were important to cause reflection so that I would change course. I am thankful for those who bless me with their wisdom along the way. The One who is the best Savior is Jesus Christ.

My life was set for destruction, bound for Hell! Timothy Keller’s observation about how people ultimately arrive far from God is telling. “Hell is simply one’s freely chosen identity apart from God on a trajectory into infinity.” (Reason For God, 2009) We are born with a nature bent to serve ourselves. The more we pursue Self, the further we travel away from God. The end point of that road is Hell, the complete absence of God, who is Light and Love. As much as we might try to believe in our own powers of reformation and/or salvation, we cannot save ourselves from ourselves.

We all need Someone to step in and save us from ourselves. The hymn, “Come, Thou Fount of Ev’ry Blessing,” contains these lines:
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

There is the Gospel! C. S. Lewis speaks to the importance of responding in faith to the Lord today. “Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others … but you are still distinct from it. You my even criticize yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then, there will be no ‘you’ left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine. It is not a question of God “sending us” to Hell. In each of us there is something growing, which will BE Hell unless it is nipped in the bud.” (as quoted in Reason for God)

When we were Hell-bound, fixed on our own destruction, our Divine Lover stepped in with an offer, held out the promise of changing the course of our lives. The Scripture says, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, … but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:1, 4-5, NIV) Ours is but to accept His offer – by faith. When we do, the trajectory spoken of by Keller is turned upward. Heaven is set in our hearts and we begin to live ‘in God,’ right here, walking with the Spirit in a way that ends in His glorious Presence.

Are you allowing Someone to save you from yourself?
Give up pride. Reject self-improvement which is at best a temporary thing and is really just self-delusion, learning not to see the Truth. By faith, respond and accept the offer of the Lord of Glory to ‘interpose His precious blood’ and set you on a new course – one that is filled with holiness and ends at the Throne of God.

________________

Sweet Jesus Christ, my sanity.
Sweet Jesus Christ, my clarity.
Bread of heaven, broken for me
Cup of salvation held up to drink
Jesus - Mystery

Christ has died and Christ is risen,
And Christ will come again

Celebrate his death and rising.
Lift your eyes, proclaim his coming!
Celebrate his death and rising,
Lift your eyes, lift your eyes!

-Charlie Hall