"I'll hold up a mirror."

"I do not exist," we faithfully insist,
While watching sink the heavy ship with everything we knew.
And if ever You come near, I'll hold up high a mirror.
Lord, I could never show you anything as beautiful as You!

~mewithoutYou, Messes of Men

What a great lyric, to be sure. The first time I read it, I thought that, "And if ever you come near" should be changed to, "Whenever you come near." But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is exactly right. Look at this, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." (John 15:5,6). First of all, this is not talking about whether you're going to Heaven or Hell, because Jesus is talking to His disciples, calling those who've placed their faith in Himself "Branches." But did you see what happens when we choose not to have fellowship with Christ? We are like those branches that fall out during a storm and your dad (or you) brings them out to the street to be picked up by the DOT or whomever. Useless. Fruitless. What I'm saying is that we as Christians have a part to play in our own walk. If we choose to break fellowship with our Redeemer, then he will only come near again "if ever" we realize our wrongs and ask Him to forgive and restore that vertical relationship. If we do not come to that point in our lives, then we are lukewarm, carnal Christians.

Sadly, that's where most Christians are today (and I'm often guilty). We are the worst advocates for the love and grace of Jesus in the world. People are not always turned off by the message of redemption that Jesus offers, but rather by the people who have believed in that message and then refused to carry out their part of the relationship. It doesn't by any means change the fact that they're going to Heaven, but it means that they have placed their own selfish lifestyle ahead of the Life that Jesus gave up for them. He offers relationship. Relationships are contracts of two parties. How much sense does it make to accept the Gift offered by God, and then decide you don't want to carry out your part of the deal? In law, it's called a breach of contract, and it's not legal. Christ offers rescue from the Kingdom of Darkness and transfer to the Kingdom of Light, and we have to do nothing for it. All He asks after that transfer is some commitment on our part. I'd say that it's the very least we owe someone who died in our place. Sometimes, all we can do is hold up a mirror and say, "Lord, I've got nothing to offer you. I'm a poor wretch who succeeds much less than I fail. BUT, I know that You are faithful, just, merciful, true, holy, righteous, omnipotent, omniscient, full of unfailing love, redemptive, glorious, forgiving, and your list of attributes stretches on till infinity. Only when I make an effort to love and cherish the relationship You offer to me will my life make any sense."