ancient olive tree
“This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to His own holy people. For it has pleased God to tell His people that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. For this is the secret: Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in His glory.” (Colossians 1:26, 27)
Paul, a Jew, is speaking to me, a Gentile here. He is telling me that I got the deal of a lifetime. Thank goodness God is favorable to outsiders; otherwise I wouldn’t have had a chance.
You see, I’ve been talking about outsiders, all the while forgetting that I was talking about me. Not that those of us who are Gentile believers haven’t been brought in – Paul says that we were grafted in to the original tree – it’s that we shouldn’t forget our fortunate “luck” (probably not the right word but it has the right sense) at having this opportunity in the first place. We were not on the original “guest list” we were off the streets. We are those guys who were brought in from the highways and byways of life because the original guests had other plans.
Here’s why we should never forget (as I did) that we were outsiders:
1) We will always appreciate God’s grace.
2) We will not take anything for granted.
3) We will be humble.
4) We will not need to judge anyone since we ourselves are not deserving of our position.
4) We will not lose our sense of belonging to the human family. We will be quick to embrace “outsiders” because, in a real sense, they are us.
5) Keeping this perspective will keep us from becoming like the Pharisees who prided themselves over being on the inside.
“But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13)
“If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” (Romans 11:17, 18)
John Fischer The Catch 
Good thoughts. Caedmon’s Call recorded a song a few years back which includes in its chorus the following lines: “My God, my God, why hast thou accepted me? It’s a mystery of mercy, and a song that I sing.” The older I get, the more often I share that reflection. Why me, Lord? Like you, I can’t believe my good “luck”!
Thx Pastor John for today’s Catch, I got a lot out of it and was very encouraged by it! I still find it be sooo humbling that I have the great gift and honor to be called a child of the most high God.
There is not one snowflake that is the same, although we all call it snow. There is not one human being exactly the same although we call them humankind. Those two statements only give a slight indication of how creative God is! John you understand that completely and I really appreciate it. You challenge my thinking daily and bring me closer to Christ in the process. You have taken God out of the box the last number of catches in ways that have silenced the comments. At least that’s what it was for me. It started with the New Math….this really got me thinking and realize you are right. Fear, and yes sometimes terror is used by God to make us see our forgiveness. God uses the consequences of sin to bring us to Him. He has done that my whole life. Were it not for fear I would not understand how Awesome He is.
Your thoughts silenced me. I did not know how to reply. I was silent because what you have said in the catches since the New Math has been so profound. We are made in God’s image and some of that creativity God has breathed into us. This creativity not only gives new interpretations of the Word that have been kept secret but also give solutions to problems in our daily walk with God in my ‘regular’life that never before seemed possible. Thank you John for opening your creative heart to God in a way that will benefit all us Catchers in ways that we can only imagine. I love stepping out of my comfort zone although it scares me to death.
As stated some months ago, John there is an upside to your and Marti ‘s adversity and the fruit of that experience benefits me in ways that brings me closer in relationship to Christ. Thank you!
i’d like to 2nd my Catch brother Peter’s comments… 🙂
Thank you, Peter. Makes it all worth it.