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A short parable by John Newton the author of Amazing Grace that describes how we as forgiven sinners should be merciful to those who have yet to believe.
A company of travellers fall into a pit: one of them gets a passenger to draw him out. Now he should not be angry with the rest for falling in; nor because they are not yet out, as he is. He did not pull himself out: instead, therefore, of reproaching them, he should shew them pity. . . . A man, truly illuminated, will no more despise others, then Bartimeus, after his own eyes were opened, would take a stick, and beat every blind man he met. - John Newton
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
The will of God for our lives is that we will rejoice in Him always, giving thanks to Him always. That in all things Jesus will get the glory.
The trials and hardships of life may obscure the value and beauty of our lord Jesus Christ but in no way has his value decreased. The fight of faith is a fight to keep the supreme value of Christ in focus.
“With this sweet hope of ultimate acceptance with God, I have always enjoyed much cheerfulness before men; but I have at the same time laboured incessantly to cultivate the deepest humiliation before God. I have never thought that the circumstance of God’s having forgiven me was any reason why I should forgive myself; on the contrary, I have always judged it better to loathe myself the more, in proportion as I was assured that God was pacified towards me (Ezekiel 16:63) . . . There are but two objects that I have ever desired for these forty years to behold; the one is my own vileness; and the other is, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ: and I have always thought that they should be viewed together; just as Aaron confessed all the sins of all Israel whilst he put them on the head of the scapegoat. The disease did not keep him from applying to the remedy, nor did the remedy keep him from feeling the disease. By this I seek to be, not only humbled and thankful, but humbled in thankfulness, before my God and Saviour continually.” - Charles Simeon
I read a blog post this morning concerning the Ted Haggard scandal that I think all of us should read and consider. It is all too easy to get a “superior saint” attitude when we hear of this type of tragedy and think. “Oh thank you God that I’m not a sinner like that man.” (Luke 18:-9-14) But instead our hearts should be broken for damage that has been done to the glory of God, and to all the people involved. One can’t imagine the pain that those close to the situation are feeling. We are all terrible sinners in need of God’s grace folks, all of us. Well, enough of my ramblings, Please read the article and be in prayer for Ted Haggard, his wife, children and all that attend his church.
Link to Story
If you are like me and tend to be enamored with the latest batch of electronic coolness please ponder this article by John Piper titled “How to be Spiritually Minded“. After reading this I thought hard about the amount of energy I expend thinking about things that don’t exalt Christ.
