6-23

This morning I am thankful for new mercies and a fresh look at the Gospel. I always find myself overwhelmed by grace when, in the seemingly mundane, God takes the time to weave His story into my circumstances. 

Earlier as a rode my bike to work, I felt very physically spent. As I pedaled across campus, my attention was drawn to the weakness in my legs and the tiredness that was spread across my body. My thoughts kept bringing me to this idea of my legs having to carry the weight of the rest of my body. How could my own legs not support me?  In that moment, I felt very weak. Not the same weakness brought on by being physically tired, but a weakness brought on by being undone by the Gospel. 

In the light of the Gospel, I realized how incapable I was. I realized that my own strength could never be enough to save me. I know this sounds self-defeating, but it was quite the opposite. It was freeing. 

You see if I just realized I couldn’t fix this problem that would be bad news. But the goodness of it all is that Jesus “pedaled my bike” for me. While I was still a sinner, Jesus bore a load that I could not ever lift. As a result, my sin died with Jesus on that cross in exchange for His righteousness. 

I grew tired when traveling a little over a mile uphill with the help of a bicycle. My Savior traveled far more than that with the weight of a cross. And this is just the physical journey. While Jesus in human form made a journey far greater than my own body would allow, he also emotionally did something I could never handle.    

Not only a wooden cross, but the sins of all mankind, rested on His shoulders. 

Jesus was not only carrying his own weight, but the weight of a cross and the past, present, and future sins of an entire world. Think of your own sins that you’ve committed? I know that I have a pretty lengthy list of my own. Now imagine that times billions more. I can’t even imagine the emotional burden, but Jesus bore it all. 

So how do I respond to this? I walk into that freedom totally aware that it is a result of no effort of my own, and I give up everything to get to know the one who set me free.