“Gee, it’s worse than I thought.”

“Yeah but the cross is bigger than I thought.”

Jim posted the observations above on our website following Tuesday’s Catch where I commented on what my sin must have looked like to me 45 years ago compared to today. The picture above was on the back of the album, Inside, where I recorded the song about “the mess I’ve made of me.” Does this picture look like a truly repentant guy? Then why does he look so smug? Just going by this picture, I’d guess he thinks his “mess” is next to nothing compared with yours. 

Or how about this picture, eight years earlier on the back of my first album? I was 22 years old. Doesn’t this look a little like you should consider yourself privileged to hold this album in your hand? I’m dealing with Chandler at this age right now. He’ll be 22 in September, and already, I can’t teach him anything that he doesn’t already know. This picture conveys a similar reality.

So you see our knowledge of our sin does seem to be a factor of how long we’ve been walking with the Lord. Not that it gets better. It actually gets worse. Oh, we don’t necessarily sin more; we just see more. We learn how deep our sin goes (we’ll never really get to the bottom of it — only Jesus can do that). So it should be that the longer we walk with Jesus, the more broken and humble we become, and the more blown away by the grace of God. 

“Gee, it’s worse than I thought.” Yes, it will seem like that, the more we find out about ourselves and the depth of our sin, but that’s also when we discover that God’s grace is deeper and wider and longer than we could ever need. Like the hymn goes: 

Grace, grace, God’s grace, 

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within; 

Grace, grace, God’s grace, 

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

                   Julia H. Johnston

Catch MemberPartner, advisor to the Catch Ministry and previous lifetime missionary to Japan, Roberta Stephens, requests we consider supporting Gordon and Lee Ann Hwang and their ongoing service in Japan with International Ministries by participating in a “Flash Sale” over the next two days consisting of fabulous items remaining from its auction. All items are discounted with “Buy-it-Now” purchasing. Also, for the 17 more valuable items, the organization will hold a Flash Auction between now through the 24th. To learn more about the Hwangs and how you can participate click on the banner above.