Opinion

We live in a day and age where man longs to be the center of his own existence. He believes that by his own logical reasons, and the decisions that he has made, he is who he is. He builds his own kingdom and looking at all of his accomplishments like Nebuchadnezzar of old, he says, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” He walks out of his house, closes the door and looks up, seeing the beauty of the sun rising in all of its glory and looking back over his shoulders at all of his possessions saying, “Ah, the Lord has blessed me today, let me go and make much of myself and satisfy all my passions.” This may not be the verbal prayer that comes from his mouth, but it is definitely woven in the very fabric of his soul where his deepest affections lie.

This morning I opened the door to my shower and turned the hot water all the way up. I stood there in my fuzzy robe, bleary-eyed and weary before the day had even really started and sighed deeply, wishing that I could go back to bed for a couple of hours. Then something undeniably cheery caught my eye from the corner of the steamy shower. It was three tiny bright yellow rubber ducks. Sawyer came across these ducks at some point in the past month or so, and since then every night when he takes a shower, he places them in some funny spot for me to find the next morning. Today they were perched atop three different bottles of soap and shampoo, facing each other as if they were conducting a board meeting. When I saw them I had to giggle a little bit. And wasn’t that Sawyer’s goal? To amuse me in some way? To brighten my morning with a cheerful little surprise?

When I began my walk with Christ I realized I was harboring a lot of past resentments and grudges toward others and also toward myself. I was believing a lie. A lie that told me that those who had wronged me didn’t deserve my forgiveness, and that the things I had done didn’t deserve the forgiveness of others. I struggled with this for a long time until I came across this scripture: