Dry land

  • Brian Pollard
  • Sep 24, 2007

In Max Lucado's book, No Wonder They Call Him the Savior , he writes,

"To whom does God offer his gift? To the brightest? The most beautiful or the charming? No. His gift is for us all - beggars and bankers, clergy and clerks, judges and janitors. All God's children. And he wants us so badly, he'll take us in any condition - "as is" reads the tag on our collars. He's not about to wait for us to reach perfection (he knows we'll never get there!). Do you think he's waiting for us to overcome all temptations? Hardly. When we master the Christian walk? Far from it. Remember, Christ died for us when we were still sinners. His sacrifice, then, was not dependent on our performance. He wants us now."

I recall a conversation with my dad a month or so ago after I attended the youth leadership conference at Saddleback Church with my youth leaders and the week-long jr. high camp up at Alpine. I was basically on a spiritual high. God met me countless times during those two weeks and reminded me over and over again of the unbreakable promises that are written in his Word and the incredible life that he has blessed me with since I gave it all to him about 13 years ago. I remember saying to my dad over the phone with great excitement and an awe-like humility, "I know too much of the Bible to turn my back on God."

Please don't misinterpret what I am saying. What I was trying to say to my dad was, "Who else can a person like me turn to that can promise me the things that God is promising me?" If I were a card playing man (which I am not), I'm all in! Jesus Christ holds all my cards.

Let's get brutally honest here! I am a sinful man! I have broken God's heart more times than I ever want to realize. I am terrified of the day that I have to stand before Him and my wicked heart, intentions, thoughts, and sinful actions are replayed in His holy presence. On my best days my intentions are selfish and "me-centered" and yet the Bible says that God still loves me. In fact, he knows ALL my sins and he still loves me!

You see, I don't have my life all together. In fact, the more that God reveals to me regarding his character, the chasm increases between God and me. I am, like what Max Lucado stated earlier, a "beggar." I have absolutely nothing to offer that He needs.

In Romans 3:10-20 from the Message, Paul recognizes this condition as well when he is inspired by God to write, "So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners.
Scripture leaves no doubt about it:

There's nobody living right, not even one,
nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God.
They've all taken the wrong turn;
they've all wandered down blind alleys.
No one's living right;
I can't find a single one.
Their throats are gaping graves,
their tongues slick as mudslides.
Every word they speak is tinged with poison.
They open their mouths and pollute the air.
They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year,
litter the land with heartbreak and ruin,
Don't know the first thing about living with others.
They never give God the time of day.
This makes it clear, doesn't it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it's clear enough, isn't it, that we're sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God's revelation doesn't put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else's sin."

I am not a biblical scholar, but it doesn't take a seminary degree to interpret that passage. All of us are in a "sinking boat" that is on the verge of going under.

Solution: Start paddling, pray for dry ground, reach for a life jacket? No. Futile. Those are all good solutions but none of them solves the problem of our inability to stay above the water.

Look up, reach out, and grab the hand that is already being extended your way. The hand of the One who is standing on he water and speaks the sea to, "Quiet! Be still!" (Matthew 14:22-33 and Mark 4:39).

Our Captain. Our Lord and Savior Jesus. He is calling you to dry land where you can stand firm on His promises and the truth of His Word.

I posed the question last month, "what's so amazing about grace?" For me, it's that it is even offered.

1 Comments | Login to Post Comments

Bill and Kitty Gott on Nov 6, 2007 7:29am

Hi Brian: What a wonderful Savior we serve. It was inspiring to read your comments. One Sunday Bill and Kitty will come and visit. God Bless you all, Bill&Kitty Gott