May 12, 2020 – Click here to listen
Part of my daily reading includes C.S. Lewis. He was a brilliant man who had a deep perspective of life and God and an eloquent way of presenting our Father that is entirely unique to him. Lewis was an atheist for a time but eventually turned to God and when he did the Holy Spirit opened his beautiful mind to heavenly things.
I read recently how he described the presence of God in us. It reminded me of me . . .
No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep picking our- selves up each time. We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, & the clean clothes are in the airing cupboard. The only fatal thing is to lose one’s temper and give it up. It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us; it is the very sign of His presence.
At my first reading my initial response was,
Huh?
Then I read it again and again and finally I understood. I’ve had more than my share of falls, but no matter how badly I was beaten I always got back up. In fact a friend in my early days described fighting with me as a “fight to the finish. You either have to knock him out completely cold or kill him because he will not quit.” Later in life I had the same attitude in business and anything I delved into. I’m often asked how in this day and time I’ve managed to stay married for fifty years. Like every marriage ours has not been picture perfect, but I vowed divorce was not an option, (maybe guns, knives, clubs, water pistols, or arm wrestling but not divorce.)
I don’t know exactly why God made me like I am. Most people will not tell you what they really think of you to your face, but I had a buddy who I asked to write down my good and bad points who actually did so from an objective point of view. First on the list of negatives was stubborn. First on the list of positives was courageous. He was right about being stubborn, but courageous might have been more accurately termed crazy judging by some of the things I’ve done and occasionally continue to do.
At any rate, as someone who has entered the ninth inning, I read C.S. Lewis and can relate to falling down but getting back up again. I’ve had too many falls in life to even remember And I feel muddy and tattered and I would add beat up to the mix, but I can honestly say that even though I have fallen more times than most, I stubbornly got back up again and again. I wasn’t always like that. Before I became a Christ follower, I was on the verge of suicide. I had no friends, money, clean clothes, no home, was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and my family had given up on me . . .
Like the prodigal son God picked me up, cleaned me up, dressed me in the finest of clothes, and put a gold ring on my finger. That took care of the outside, but what about the inside? I think of the dirt inside of me as sin. I never lose sight of sin in my life and I feel God’s cleansing presence the most when I notice insidious sin creeping back into my life. I cannot describe with mere words how I love His coming alongside of me when I need Him the most. He has saved me from myself and I am eternally grateful. I’m so happy that I realized that I’m a sinner and I need His saving grace. So many in life don’t think they have sin in their lives, or they mistakenly think they are so minor as not to count. Many think they are a good person deserving of heaven just for being so good. It is when I saw the dirt that I felt the presence of Jesus and the need for His saving grace.
Romans 3:22
And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus . . .