Tender-ness

While trying to improve our physical condition, The Amazing Joanne and I collided on our bicycles. She injured her shoulder and couldn’t sleep well. As things go, I ended up sleeping the wrong way one night, ended up with a pinched nerve, so my shoulder is stiff and my wrist is tender. (All in the pursuit of becoming stronger!)

All this reminds me of my own mortality, which is very embarrassing. I prefer to think of myself as being immortal, or at least free from weaknesses. Yeah, right.

God knows better. He made us out of mud, and he’s never forgotten that. Psalm 103:14 says “The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. He knows how weak we are; he remembers we are but dust.”

Not that I like to be reminded I’m made out of mud, and that I’m fragile -- but to compensate, God himself remembers how fragile I am, and treats me tenderly because of it.

God also knows that we aren’t able to provide our own salvation. He tells us through Paul in Ephesians:

2:4 -- But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

So God doesn’t expect us to achieve some level of perfection in order to qualify for his forgiveness or for life itself. He knows we can’t, anyway.

That’s a good thing, because just as in physical life, when I try to live a spiritual life, I keep colliding with obstacles and other people. I will never get it right, but that’s OK because Jesus Christ himself has gotten it right for me, and by grace the Father has given me the gift of life through Jesus. And he still treats me – and you – tenderly.

Hallelujah!