GraceCreates

by Jon Walker

I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. (Romans 7:24-25 MSG)

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Despite his impeccable integrity, the Prophet Isaiah was overwhelmed with the ungodliness of his life when brought before the Truth. He saw his need for grace and cried, “There is no hope for me! I am doomed because every word that passes my lips is sinful, and I live among a people whose every word is sinful.” (Isaiah 6:5 TEV) Perhaps it was in this moment that Isaiah understood that even our greatest acts of righteousness and our most honest behaviors are like filthy rags when compared to God’s holy standards. (Isaiah 64:6)

Yet, Isaiah’s story shows that Jesus never intends to leave us in despair. His intent is to prepare us to receive God’s grace. Even as Isaiah is staggered by the revelation of his sin, Isaiah just as suddenly finds himself cleansed of his guilt and forgiven of his sins when he is touched by a burning coal from heaven’s altar. Isaiah 6:7 TEV) He is then energized for God’s purpose: “Then I heard the Lord say, “Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?” I answered, “I will go! Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8 TEV)

In the same way, our call to discipleship cleanses us and energizes us to follow Jesus. But we have to face the truth about ourselves, or the lie will constantly undermine our ability to follow Jesus.

In “The Cost of Discipleship,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, “In this question of truthfulness, what matters first and last is that a man’s whole being should be exposed, his whole evil laid bare in the sight of God. But sinful men do not like this sort of truthfulness, and they resist it with all their might. That is why they persecute it and crucify it. It is only because we follow Jesus that we can be genuinely truthful, for then he reveals to us our sin upon the cross. The cross is God’s truth about us, and therefore it is the only power which can make us truthful. When we know the cross we are no longer afraid of the truth.”

Jon Walker is the author of “Growing with Purpose: Connecting with God Every Day.” This article is copyrighted 2010 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.