What is the key to life?

I am driving down the road aggravated at the moron in front of me who is not paying attention.
I am irritated at the mess my children have just made in the kitchen.
I am frustrated at the co-worker who refuses to listen and just seems to do their own thing.
I am tired of listening to the rants of people at the store as they talk about the government and the economy.
I am fed up with a spouse who seems to go out of their way to annoy me and cause problems.

What do all of these scenarios have in common?  In order for me to respond in an appropriate way, I need grace.  "Wait," you ask, "don't you mean, 'they need grace?"  No, in fact, I need grace.

Here's what I have been thinking about recently.  People mess up around me all of the time, and frankly, if I pay attention enough, I mess up just as much (if not more).  To the extent that I receive grace, I will have it to give to others.  Hence my need for grace.

Last week I drove my car into the back of an unsuspecting driver.  Yeah, that's right, I am a moron and I hit the guy in front of me.  As I consider his response, he was very gracious to me.  He did nothing to deserve being hit, rather he was inconvenienced by being hit.  Yet, he not only spoke kindly, he actually helped me get my car back in running order to finish the 200 miles I had left to go.  I received grace.

It is amazing how it has affected my driving this week.  When I see people, who I still consider lousy drivers, doing things they should not do, I am less critical and more inclined to offer grace.

So, as I walk through other areas of my life, the thought occurs to me, when I get angry with my children, my spouse, co-workers, family, friends... usually it is because I have not reflected enough on the grace I have been given through Jesus Christ - the one I have offended in every area to the greatest degree yet he responded in gracious love and forgiveness.

So, the next time you think someone else needs a little correction or a "piece of your mind", maybe you can join me in asking God to help us better reflect on the grace that He has already given to us.  Then maybe we will respond to others with the same grace we have received.

How easily we are impressed with ourselves...

There we all are - 7 billion of us - standing on the California shoreline.  Some of us are fat, some are skinny, some are young, some are old, some are tall, some are short, some are expert swimmers, some can't swim at all... Yet we all wade into the water planning to swim the 2,390 miles to Hawaii.  'It can't be done", some say, yet they jump right in there with the rest.  "I have trained for years for this day, I know I will make it", cries another as he hurdles the first few waves of the ocean.

We all start at the same point, but very quickly many begin to sink.  The non-swimmers, of course, are the first to go down, but many of them quickly turn to the rescue boats that are available.  Some refuse the help of the rescuers, and suffer the fate of drowning.

As the field widens, we see some taking off, they are doing well.  The longer we swim, the more we see people either heading for the rescue boats, or finding their resting place on the bottom of the ocean floor.  As disturbing as it is, people are choosing to die rather than accept help from someone else.

The event continues with people swimming a mile, two miles, three miles.  Many of the swimmers who have been rescued have started calling out to the people in trouble.  "We are right here", "Turn and swim over here, we can help you", "You don't have to drown, just reach out and take my hand".  On and on they call out, while some heed their call, others ignore them.

For over 2,360 miles (the farthest distance any person has ever swam - Martin Strel 2002 - over 68 days [with breaks]) the people have tried to swim the distance from California to Hawaii with the largest margin of people drowning.  By now, those on the rescue boats can see the land approaching, Hawaii is just 30 miles away.  The celebration is beginning, although there is much mourning for the people who have died.  However, there is still one man in the water.  He is beginning to falter, he is tired.  Many on the ships are amazed at how well he has done, but as he begins to struggle, he refuses help.  He takes in a mouthful of water, and looses the ability to continue. 

The boats surround him.  The people call out to him.  Many are reaching out, casting life preservers and ropes, to no avail.  He refuses help and ultimately ends up dead at the bottom of the ocean, just a few miles from the Hawaiian coast.

You see, from the start of this endeavor, we all knew this distance was too much.  There is no human alive that can swim from California to Hawaii without stopping.  We were destined to fail. The woman that refused help just a few feet from the California coastline ended up as dead as the man that made it just a few miles from Hawaii.  Yeah, one is more impressive than the other, but both failed, both missed the mark, both died. 

However, it did not have to be that way.  Either of them could have taken the free ride on the rescue boats across the Pacific and ended up on the Hawaiian beaches, but because of pride, ignorance, fear, pressure from others, etc. they ended up lifeless at the bottom of the ocean.

Just like the people in this story, we get impressed with our abilities, our strengths, our looks, our efforts, and we strive to meet God's approval on our own.  We will fall short, either drastically short, or (if we are unusually, incredibly wonderful people) just mostly short!  None of us gets close to the perfection and holiness of the God of this universe, but boy are we impressed with how much better than others we can be.

The people on the boat had no other option than to say that the only reason they made it was because of the rescue boats that were available - whether they swam 1 foot or 2389 miles - they could not have made it on their own.

In the same way, without the righteousness of Christ which He gave me through His death on Calvary, I could not claim to be righteous at all. 

I need to look less at others to see how well I match up, and look more fully on Christ to see how far he reached for me.  If we all would do this, we would recognize the people around us are no more failures and sinners than we are, they just sin differently, and they need Christ just as much as I do.