The Wading Pool

Recently, though the marvel of social media, I was taken on a trip down memory lane to a time that I haven’t thought about in years.  It was during my B.C. days (that’s “before Christ” for those of you who’ve been “educated” in the modern era).  I gotta admit, I wasn’t thrilled about the trip.  And, no, it wasn’t because of the hair.  Well, not just because of the hair, although, that’s bad enough.

I wasn’t thrilled about it because…quite honestly, I didn’t want to remember “that guy.”  “That guy” was a schmuck.  I don’t want to think about the things I did, the messes I made…the people I hurt, the things that could never be undone.  “That guy” weighed on me quite a bit.

Fast forward from memory lane to this Sunday, our pastor was teaching on 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.  Four little words stuck with me like white on rice:  “But God has chosen…” Who?  Who has God chosen?  Well, “that guy,” for one!  ME!  God chose a foolish, selfish, messed up, sinful and downright goofy-looking kid…God chose ME?!  Yes, unbelievably so…He chose me.

Paul says it this way:

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.” (I Cor. 1:27-29)

I sat there in church, tears in my eyes, humbled anew by the grace and goodness of God.  I was a fool, weak, base, despised, a NOT…and yet God chose me.  He saved me from my sin.  He set me free from the chains of sin.  He took what was dead and brought it to LIFE.  He called me.  ME!!!  

And why did He call me?  To make something of me?  To puff me up?  No, he called me to bring glory to Himself.  He called me that His glory should shine though and in me.  He called me so that, as John the Baptist said of Jesus, He would increase and I would decrease.  

And as if to hammer home that point, on my way home from church yesterday, my niece starts texting me old pictures she’s found, of which the pic above is one.  Wowza….

But now, when I see those pics and think of “that guy”, I’m not embarrassed, or depressed.  (Well, maybe a little embarrassed…good Lord what was I thinking with the hair???) Instead I’m reminded that God loves “that guy” so much that He gave His only Son, so that “that guy” should not perish, but have everlasting life.

And it’s not just “that guy”, not just me…but you, too!  That’s the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  God so loved “the world” that He gave His Son, for us all…that “whosoever will” could come and experience life eternal with Him!  That whoever desires to be loosed of the chains of sin would be free!  Listen, if “that guy” can be saved, trust me, God wants to save you, too!

So, come!