“I am looking for a saviour I can see and know and touch
One who dwells within the midst of us
May a broken God be known within the earth beneath our feet,
Let our souls behold humility
Let our souls behold humility”
(Looking for a savior, 2016).
The pain of sin
It’s funny for me to think of how I have viewed my faith in years gone by. It has been my everything, my afterthoughts, my striving, my love and my pain.
Something though, which has always seemed just out of my reach is a true understanding that I am not saved by my own righteousness, but by the righteousness of a man who was nailed to a tree to pay the debt my wrongdoing continues to amount.
For years I swung on a pendulum of self-righteousness and shame (admittedly, sometimes I still do). When I saw the sin of the people around me, I was disgusted. When I saw the sin within myself, I was torn apart.
What could I possibly do in response to my sinful nature?
Guilt and shame were the ammunition I used in a fight against sin. I had to fix myself. I somehow had to convince myself to turn from my sinful ways -the sinking pit of condemnation was the best motivator I could come up with.
In my own eyes, I felt that I was a disappointment to God. How could He love me? I felt the insurmountable weight of needing to rid myself completely of my sin before I could commune with Jesus.
Looking for a saviour
Jesus died to make us clean. Why then do we try to rid ourselves of our shortcomings before we come to Him?
What is the point of cleaning yourself up to take a shower?
Jesus is our saviour, that means that the work He does we actually cannot do ourselves, if we could, why then would we need saving?
Philippians 2:13 says “....it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
This is good news! Jesus wants to help us with our sin! He gives us the desire and ability to live according to His will. He is a personal saviour, one who is involved in our lives, one who sits in the dirt with us when we fall and gives us a helping hand back up again.
Jesus is not scared of our sin! On the contrary – He is a saviour that we can “see and know and touch, one who dwells within the midst of us” (Looking for a saviour, 2016).
What are you looking for?
Are you looking for a saviour? Someone who knows you at your best and your worst and loves you all the same. A God who isn’t deterred by your sin, but whose main priority is drawing you into His loving embrace.
A person whose love sent Him to the cross and then the grave to pay the penalty of your wrongdoing, then in glorious success rose again that you might partake in His glorious life.
I am.