Issue 933 – Hard Wired – December 13, 2022
Like most families today, we are connected to the net. The telecom company routes the signal to our house via cable. The signal goes to a modem, then a router and is broadcast wirelessly through our home. It is so commonplace that no one gives it a second thought.
I remember when even getting online access in your home was a big deal. You had to run cable if you wanted online access anywhere else in the home. My 2400 bpm dial-up modem screamed like a dying electronic dinosaur as it talked to the server. There are entire generations who never heard that exciting sound.
Our family had advanced far enough technologically at some point that we had two computers and needed to connect them both. We purchased a router to network two of the machines together. I drilled holes in the floors, walls and ceilings to run the cable up to the right level for others to use it.
I unpackaged fifty feet of cable and started feeding it through the wall. Major problem! There weren’t 50 feet of line in the package; there were less than twenty feet. No matter how I wanted to run the cable, I couldn’t cover fifty feet with twenty feet of line.
So it was to back to the office supply store to get a package with fifty feet of cable. After fishing the cable through floors and walls, we were finally able to have two machines online at the same time. We felt super sophisticated and tech-savvy.
In remembering the hassle of trying to get two machines both online, I was reminded of our efforts to find God. God’s standard is perfection and sinlessness.
No matter how hard we try, we’ll never reach that goal. Our best efforts, combined with all the good deeds in the world and the most sincere intentions, won’t go far enough to touch The Lord. You can’t make twenty feet of cable run fifty feet, no matter how much you try.
Our twenty feet fall pitifully short of what is needed. Even Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Billy Graham couldn’t make it by themselves. Saul, the Pharisee of Pharisees, the son of Pharisee, later known as the Apostle Paul, couldn’t make it on his own merit.
Perhaps they had the equivalent of forty feet of cable, but forty feet don’t reach fifty feet any more than someone with only two or three feet of line.
That’s one of the wonders of God. He knows we can’t reach Him through our efforts. The Lord orchestrated the required workaround plan for fallen sinners.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:6-11
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
I know that if you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you’ve heard those verses more times than you can count. But do they still excite you?
If you can read those verses and not feel overwhelming awe and gratitude, you’ve hardened your heart to the truth. It’s time to get your fire rekindled again.
This salvation by grace through faith, rather than impossible to achieve merit, is big stuff. It is hands down the best news the world has ever heard. If you understand what these verses mean and have accepted Christ, you are part of a beautiful, eternal miracle.
Do you really understand? God sent His Son to die for you and me. That’s incredible stuff.
Until next time, may you come to truly understand the magnitude of the gift of God’s grace and mercy in your life. May you jump for joy, sing His praises and want to run out and tell everyone you know how good God truly is.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).
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