Words of Grace – October 31, 2013

Alan Redpath tells about the time when he needed to get a passport photograph of himself he was more than a little disappointed.

“Well,” the photographer said, “That is only a passport photograph. Would you like some touch-up prints?”

That sounded like a good idea, so Redpath ordered some. They were a big improvement, but to his surprise, the American consulate only wanted the passport photograph that was not touched-up.

“The touched-up photograph was what I wanted other people to think that I was,” Redpath later commented, “but the passport photograph was the ugly reality. And all I could do was to submit to the diagnosis, and then give the man the thing that he wanted.”

This reminds me of the request Moses made to the Lord concerning himself. After he had confessed, “I am not able” (Numbers 11:14) he continued, “and let me not see my wretchedness” (v.15). HE did not want to be made aware of the ugly reality of what he looked like on the inside.

The apostle Paul, on the other hand, freely admitted to his own wretchedness in the sight of God. In Romans 7:24 he exclaimed, “O wretched man that I am!”

John Newton followed Paul’s example by confessing: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!” Shortly before his death he is quoted as proclaiming with a loud voice during a message:

“I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior!”