As you might imagine, the first time I read Romans 13 as a new believer my old identity was smashed to bits. If you haven't guessed it yet, that's my arm in the picture. A lasting reminder of the old man.During the last eight years of my old life, I picked up my Bible less then a dozen times because I knew it was the word of God. I knew it would show me where I was in error, and I would be compelled to change. At the time, I wanted to pursue the pleasures of the world. I know what it means to be a stiff-necked (2 Chronicles 30:8) person.
In a sense, reading the Bible still scares me, because there I encounter God, the ultimate authority... one to whom all glory is due and to whom every knee shall bow. It is the faithfulness and mercy of God that gives me courage. This is the kind of courage needed to read Colossians 3 and be encouraged to leave the old man behind.
There's is an older Stavesacre song lyric that nails it for me.
4 comments:
Wow, what a reminder...and a testimony of how God can can take us from wherever we may be....
Blessings to you...
In a way... we are all anarchists, because we revolt against the master of this world...
Strange are the ways of the Lord, indeed...
This was the heaviest blog entry i've read in a while. Thank you. It provoked me to recall my own scars- those places in my own life that seem to never leave me. I look back though, and I see the Lord's hand. They remind me now of His grace and mercy on me. In other words, while i can at times still feel the pain, the scars remind me more of God's grace than my own failures.
Blessings to you!
James
Thanks to each of you for your encouragement. Your comments have touched me deeply.
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