gospel amnesia

I had one of those moments last night when God intersected my world with exactly what I needed... and He used a song to do it. I went to bed early last night feeling pretty discouraged and frustrated. Around 1:30 or so in the AM I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep, so I flipped on the radio. The song playing was called "You Are More" by Tenth Avenue North - now before you go assuming that's Oprah psychology, let me share some of the lyrics. They speak richly of the extravagant grace of God.

"You are more than the choices that you've made. you are more than the sum of your past mistakes; you are more than the problems you create; you've been remade. Well she tries to believe it, that she's been given new life. But she can't shake the feeling that it's not true tonight. She knows all the answers; and she's rehearsed all the lines. And so she'll try to do better; but then she's too weak to try. BUT DON'T YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE? 'Cause this is not about what you've done, but what's been done for you. This is not about where you've been, but where your brokenness brings you to. This is not about what you feel, but what He felt to forgive you, and what He felt to make you loved..."

I heard a sermon online recently that spoke about a Christian's tendancy to come down with "gospel amnesia." I'm so prone to forget the gospel, to forget about His grace. What would be different in my life if everyday was innundated with gospel truth? What would change if I really grasped grace? How can something so monumental become so mundane? The significance of the gospel is earth-shattering. So how do I manage so often to forget? I wrestle to understand what grace and the gospel is all about. There's a line from a Relient K song that echos in my mind: "the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair." I guess the point is that it doesn't make sense- not fully anyway- and it never will. Because the bottom line is, I don't deserve grace or mercy. Not only that, but I can't earn it either. But the beauty of it all is that though it's utterly undeserved, I'm blessed to be showered everyday with this extravagant, unending grace. It gives joy and hope and purpose. It's DE-motivation to continue in sin, to believie the bold-faced lies of the Evil One. It's motivation to embrace Life Abundant in and only through Christ. I can only be thankful. Julian of Norwich said "The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowlege of his love."

It's not enough to just believe the gospel, it must saturate my mind and heart as I begin to live like it's true. This doesn't mean gritting my teeth and trying harder to live better and achieve more. It's not making lofty commitments and holding myself to a higher standard. The gospel is realized in my life when I just come, messed up as I am, to the foot of the cross and let His love cover. It's stripping away all that I cling to and wholeheartedly encountering God FOR ALL HE IS. There in lies the freedom I crave!

"Where sin abounded, grace has more abounded; and so, just as sin reigned wherever there was death, so grace will bring eternal life thanks to the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:20-21)