A View From The Other Side

Listening to a song I have liked for a very long time, one I first heard when I really started walking with God... 42 years ago.

42 years.

I had no clue then. Like everyone believed and taught, I thought I had to perform, once I understood who Jesus really is.

I did want to serve. It was only natural, He saved my sorry butt, and I knew it. So, I did serve, everywhere I could.

For many years.

I was called to it, yes, but in my heart, I didn't realize how much I really wanted to balance the scales, to somehow make up for the very need for Jesus to pay my price.

I was wrong. It was never about serving.

Oh, serving is a good thing, its just that it isnt going to balance anything. There is no sacrifice, no work anyone can ever do to accomplish that.

We are His work... not the other way around.

I sit on a cruise ship, cooking in the sun just south of the equator, realizing that we are more like the fruit of the vine than workers who need to produce a product.

The grapes just grow. How they grow depends entirely on the work of the vineyard owner. He must make sure the vines are watered, fed, and protected.

When He tastes the fruit and is pleased, it is not anything the grapes did other than grow as the vineyard owner intended and worked for.

Yes, He is pleased with you, but it is solely because of what He put into you. You responded simply the way He made you to.

Sitting here, seeing Him smile, I know He did all the work and is simply pleased with how well He did it.

I had nothing to do with it.

I never did.

Ah, but He does great work.

Me, I just like His smile.