A man walked into the doctor’s office and said, “Doctor, I have this terrible headache that never leaves me. Could you give me something for it?”“I will,” said the doctor, “but I want to check a few things out first. Tell me, do you drink a lot of alcohol?”
“Alcohol?” said the man indignantly. “I never touch the filthy stuff.”
“How about smoking?”
I think smoking is a disgusting habit. I’ve never in my life touched tobacco.”
“I’m a bit embarrassed to ask you this, but – you know how some men are – do you run around with women at night?”
“Of course not! What do you think of me? I’m in bed alone by then-thirty every night.”
“Tell me,” said the doctor, “the pain in the head you speak of, is it a sharp, shooting kind of pain?”
“Yes,” the man said. “That’s it – a sharp, shooting kind of pain.”
“Simple, my dear fellow! Your trouble is you have your halo on too tight. All you need to do is loosen up a bit.”
The trouble with all our lofty ideals is that IF we live up to all of them, we become impossible to live with!
The tilted halo of the saved sinner is worn loosely and with easy grace. The cross of Jesus says: what we cannot do for ourselves, God has done for us. On the cross, somehow, some way, Christ bore our sins, took our place, died for us. At the cross, Jesus unmasked the sinner not only as a beggar but as a criminal before God. Christ bore our sins and bore them away!!! We cannot wash away the stains of our sins, but He is the Lamb who has taken away the sins of the world.
So the saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise. He knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is done because we have been forgiven. It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness. So the sequence is like this: First forgiveness, and then repentance. Not the other way round! That is crucial for understanding the Gospel.
Jesus said, “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28.
So come, fellow ragamuffin. Wear that a halo a little more easy, and relax in the unconditional goodness of the Father.
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