Let’s face it, contrary to what we’re always being told, we’re not all awesome – on the contrary, most of us are pretty ordinary. Most of us don’t have superpowers, most of us don’t have untold riches, and most of us don’t have much influence on the global stage.
As such, we may not feel that we have much to offer – and in some ways, maybe we’d be right.
But remember Mary and Joseph who, finding themselves in economic poverty, were only able to offer ‘a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons’ when they presented Jesus at the temple shortly after His birth. [Luke 2:24] In the world’s eyes, they may not have seemed of any significance but, over the years that they cared for Jesus, they must have, in countless small ways, done more for Him than anyone else who has ever lived.
But there is another reason why not having much to offer is of little importance. And it’s not because, as the popular Christmas carol puts it, we can give Him our hearts. For, beautiful though that sentiment is, scripture tells us that our hearts are ‘deceitful and desperately sick’. [Jeremiah 17:9] They are, therefore, nothing to boast about, and our love for God is certainly not enough to atone for our sins.
Instead we should remember that our hope lies, not in how much we have sacrificed for Christ, but in how much He has sacrificed for us. And rather than imagining that our love for Him is sufficient to save us, we need to rejoice in realising that it is His love for us that brings about that wonderful achievement. And then, having recognised the extent of His forgiveness, see how it causes us to love Him more. [Luke 7:47]
‘What shall I render to the LORD, for all his benefits to me?’ asks the Psalmist, by which he means, ‘How can I ever repay God for all that He has done for me?’ And the answer he comes up with is this: ‘I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD’ [Psalm 116:12-13]
So then, being a Christian should result in a lifetime of devotion to God, characterised by small, perhaps, but no less significant acts of service. But as He Himself goes about the lifelong process of creating clean hearts within us [Psalm 51:10], our hope remains always in Christ and our confidence is never in ourselves or the degree of change that He has brought about in us. And in return, we show our appreciation for His love, by continually receiving His forgiveness and gladly offering a ‘sacrifice of thanksgiving’.
Mary and Joseph were too economically poor to offer a sacrificial lamb at the temple and so brought the simpler offering God had graciously provided for people in their situation. And we, similarly, because of our sinfulness, are too spiritually poor to offer an acceptable sacrifice. But poverty of any kind is no barrier to receiving from the One who is rich in mercy and grace.
And so, like Jesus’s parents, we too must rely on Jesus, the one who has already brought that wholly sufficient sacrifice. For He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
And it is in Him, therefore, the one who really is awesome, that all our hope resides.
To read Day 12 from 2023, click here
To read Day 12 from 2024, click here
Some musings 