It is done

This whole introspection of life that is Lent, it seems to me, begins and end with where we are in life.

It's your life, what you gonna do.

Every day, the choices you make, show who you are.

If that be true, today, who are you?

I constantly come back to Paul's journey of self-discovery found in his letter to the church in Romans, without which I might not be here typing.

Paul says this: (NLT) "I have discovered this principle of life -- that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart, but there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. ... Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord."

Get that?

New life is just a big 'ol present of grace.

My sins are gone, because of his grace. Nothing else matters.

The choices I've made have all come back to bit me in the nether regions unless somehow I get out of the way and let him drive the train (Love train?).

The harder I try to do good, as Paul says, the more I foul up. Till I rely on Jesus. I've actually seen that when I've sinned, some bad stuff happens. One could argue that the bad stuff was going to happen anyway, but I say that it is in reaction to the mistakes in judgment I made.

There is hope, though friends. Just one chapter later, the 8th chapter of Romans, the greatest of all things is written.

Paul writes, "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus."

So, take a good strong look at all of what we've done and add it all up, wrap it in tissue paper for presentation and Jesus' blood covers it completely.

Paul later writes in the same chapter, "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love."

No matter where you are in your walk. No matter how you feel about how you feel. No matter your short-comings. In the end the great grace of God overcomes it all. And nothing you do, nothing, NOTHING, will separate you from the love of God.

Today that means that even as I look at my inabilities, I recognize the great ability of Jesus to pick my head up from chin-level with one grand finger and look me right in the eye and say to me, "I love you. I accept you. I forgive you."

And it is done.