Thoughts for another day

September 9, 2008.

Today's verse: Lk. 5:8. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. (KJV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

Many times I feel the need to say the same thing as above that Peter uttered to the Lord. Why? Because, in introspection I feel so much lacking of the virtue of Jesus’ life in me that if sketched in the record book of heaven I would be the poorest of the caricatures there; also primarily there only by the blood of the Lamb. For me, as well as for many others, the sin that we keep committing is the greater because we know that what we do, is tantamount to sin, just as Jesus told the Pharisees in John Chap. 9, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.’

As a Christian, the war with sin begins at the time we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master. Because thence from, His life needs to be reflected in our lives. His virtue has to be noticed in us and no matter how demeaning, His humility has to be ours too. Sometimes, it is difficult to encompass the qualities that Christ possessed when He walked upon the earth but we must imbibe them. There is no option. Remember, God will only ask us one question on that day, ‘how much did you resemble My Son?’ It is for us to be prepared for this question. Now, how do we prepare. I am no authority on it but I guess the best would be to ask self at every juncture in life, ‘How would Christ relate to this situation?’

I feel that the best way is to cry before Him about our sins. When we approach Him to pray, one key point is to bear a burden in pain for our sins. That’s because, He too bore a burden when He died on the cross for us. This burden was laid upon Him by our Father in Heaven and it was the sin of mankind. Since He bore our burden, can’t we also bear our burden? It is all good for us to proclaim and cry out His goodness, His grace, His love, His promises, all assuring us of good lives, peace, prosperity, etc. But it is also necessary to proclaim His Cross and pray for the same in our lives. And even as we do that, we tell others, how unworthy we are.