Grand Canyon

When I stand before the Grand Canyon I'm more able to understand who I am. My ego, pride, and self-righteousness fade as I see the greatness of the beauty before me. As my eyes stretch to focus on the depth and breadth of the Canyon's great chasm, I being to realize how small, if not insignificant, I am. The world no longer revolves around my needs, my desires, my demands, my comfort, and my wishes. When standing before something more grand and wonderful that myself, I begin to realize my perceived greatness isn't really all that great.

It's the same way with Christianity. And, I'm not talking to those of you who go to church, do some good deeds, and think you're going to heaven because you're not "that bad" of a person. That's not actually Christianity (sorry). I'm talking to you who know that you're a wretched sinner, falling short of perfection and in daily need of a savior. I'm talking to you that are like me - in total need of Jesus and eternally thankful that He lived the life I should have lived because I've fallen short- a multitude of times. If you don't need Jesus, then you're the only one I know who's figured out how to live a perfect life. And yes, that's the minimum requirements for joining God in eternity. Jesus did it for me, because I couldn't do it for myself. This is why I love Jesus.

The awesome thing is, for the rest of you who aren't on drugs or completely delusional, once you realize you need a savior Jesus becomes your friend, brother, father, and lover of your soul. This is because he makes himself known to you. He becomes your identity. When God looks at you, He sees Jesus. You become one.

For me, and everyone else I know that has a relationship with Jesus, there is nothing more amazing than the love of God- It's what we were designed for. You can tell the people that have yet to realize this. They are much like I was before I fell in love with Jesus- running around trying to suck the life and love out of every thing and every body. Trying to earn love, steal love, manipulate for love. Hanging out in bars full of other people looking for what they think is love too, but only finding what is really a mutual agreement to use each other. People earning degrees, awards, and knowledge to increase your resume, hoping it will attract more attention to yourself in order to fulfill your longings to feel important, legitimate, and loved.

We're a lost people, hoping someone will come make us feel complete. We're men who have buried all our feelings and have constructed a life to maximize comfort. But, what we've really done is dug a well around ourselves and called it "security." Most men I know are drowning in that well, but are too proud or busy to recognize it.

Like the Grand Canyon analogy, but infinitely bigger, when we stand before a perfect and holy God we begin to realize who we are and who we aren't. You can't know you've fallen short of expectations until you know what the expectations are. God's expectations for men were expressed in Jesus. A humble, perfect, loving, forgiving, man who engages people's hearts, fully exalting truth; concerned more with our souls than our comforts. When we start to see Jesus as He truly is we start to see our own hearts as they truly are. This is when we change from thinking we are "good people who do bad things" to knowing we truly need someone to step in and save us.

I am a child of God, not any God, the ONE true God. He loves me, He knows me by name and He has a plan for my life. I am committed to following Him wherever He may lead, even when I don't know where the road is going. I know Him and I trust Him because he's never let me down and never will. To prove it He died on a tree so I could know him. It's the greatest love story ever told. A God who pursues His people, but respects their freedom. As the bible says "very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, He died for us" (Romans 5:6-8).

This type of love leads to freedom. It's beautiful. Once you've realized that God has died for you and He loves you perfectly, the pressure is off. You don't need to legitimize yourself. When you are fully loved the fears of this world are gone. No longer do you have to work your way up to the top to feel worthy or live a life trying to date, drive, or own the person, car, or home that will get you the most props from your friends. No more having to prove yourself. You get to become what you were created to be: A human being, not a human doing. You'll be set free. It's what makes us Christians put our arms up in church. It's a love that changes you from the inside out, as your soul begins to feel it's full worth.

You can't earn your way into heaven anyway. You're not perfect. You can't serve enough, you can't learn enough. You can't go to enough seminary classes or pray enough penances. That's the good news of the Gospel. He's already done it all for you. I invite you to stand in front of God with Jesus as your representative. It's like standing before the Grand Canyon, knowing your significance was created by the one who made the Grand Canyon, not by the one who can't even comprehend the Grand Canyon.