Who are you? Who, who, who, who?

"He is a very modest man, but then he has so much to be modest about" ~ Winston Churchill

“What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” ~ Psalm 8:4-5

In the movie “Pride of the Yankees” Gary Cooper gives the famous farewell speech of Lou Gehrig who was forced to retire due to illness. News reels of speech show a very modest man stating; "Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I'm lucky.”

Some days you do not need to think any deep and profound theological or doctrinal truths. David knew this all too well when he penned Psalm 46:10 and encouraged us to “Be still and know that I am God.” Some days you just want to revel in the simple yet profound benefits of your salvation through Jesus Christ. Do we ever stop to think that you and I are some of the luckiest people on the face of the earth?

It is just so astounding to see how God is able to use us, flawed as we are, for His honor and His glory. The Bible is filled with stories of weak, inconsistent and faithless people who God uses to further His kingdom and bring His message to the world. When we read I Corinthians 1:27 about how God uses the foolish things in the world do we think that He had us in mind when he inspired the Apostle Paul to write this? Like the man Winston Churchill described; we have much to be modest about.

We go through life thinking silly thoughts like; that’s not fair. You know what is not fair? That a Holy God would so desire a relationship with you and I that He would give His own Son to pay the ultimate price for you and me. What’s not fair is the doctrine of grace. It’s not fair that those who are the enemies of God are even being led to heaven in the first place. The acrostic for G.R.A.C.E. is “God’s riches at Christ’s expense.”

Earlier this week I read this quote from one of John MacArthur’s sermons. He states; "Let me give you a simple but profound statement about the church: The church is the only society in the world in which membership is based on a single qualification--the candidate must be unworthy of membership. Therefore, every local church is an assembly of sinners who have been saved by God's redeeming grace, and you and I are among them." Do we forget just how unworthy we are of anything that we get from God?

A very sobering verse is found in Romans 2:4 when the Apostle Paul asks us if we “…presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” We presume when we think our service, our acts of righteousness, our standards, or our “performance” make us worthy of anything whatsoever from the God of heaven. All of our lives should be poured out in humble thanks and obedience just for the simple fact that He loved us before we even gave Him a thought, (I John 4:19). How can we not be anything but in awe that the God of the entire universe would desire to fellowship with us?

"Who are we that You would be mindful of us?
What do You see that's worth looking our way?
We are free in ways that we never should be.
Sweet release from the grip of these chains."


“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” ~ Colossians 2:13-14