Have you ever tried to assemble a piece of furniture? You know, the kind that comes all wrapped up nice in a box, with its own allen wrench included? The directions are always spot on—easy to understand—and before you know it, you have completed the task with little or no frustration. Ok, that wasn’t my experience either! The first page of the directions should have some type of warning or disclosure, explaining that the directions are severely lacking, hard to understand, and it would be helpful to your success if you can decipher, Egyptian hieroglyphics!  

We recently remodeled our master bedroom and bought a new bed and matching nightstands. My husband was working on his car, so I decided, I would put together the second nightstand, all by myself. I would read the directions and I would be successful! I wouldn’t have to ask for his help and I would post my success on my Facebook wall, for all to see and admire my accomplishment. An hour or so later, I have the outer portion of the table assembled and I am putting together the drawers. But there is a problem! I can’t get the drawer runners to lineup with the predrilled holes. My husband asks me if I need help and after lovingly looking over my work, informs me that I have put it together backwards! UGH! I was so proud of myself! I was going to do this all on my own with NO help! Well—after he disassembles part of the frame, he then finishes the assembly, leaving me to attach the knobs on the drawers. Wow! So much for doing it all by myself! I am sure I felt like a two-year-old, who insists on dressing herself…I don’t need any help!

So, how does God view us when we throw our two-year-old selves on the ground, kicking and screaming, as he is trying to lead us? He is trying to show us that our shoes are on the wrong feet and if we’d just listen to him, we would be able to walk and play so much better, not to mention how much more comfortable we would be! But many times, we plug our ears, scream at the top of our lungs, “I DO IT MYSELF!”

I have always been a very independent person. Often, however, that stands in my way with my relationship with God. The whole, “I can do it myself”, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality, flies in the face of what Christ did for us at the cross. Paul teaches in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God—not by works, so no one can boast.”  You see my friends, our salvation is not something we can obtain for ourselves! It is a gift, a gift we cannot afford, a gift we don’t deserve, and certainly a gift that we cannot earn. No amount of work will ever gain us entrance into the kingdom of heaven! So, then, how do we obtain righteousness? Through faith in Jesus Christ, we receive God’s undeniable grace and forgiveness. A forgiveness unearned and undeserved. Jesus did it ALL BY HIMSELF! And there is nothing that I can do that can improve on his sacrifice at the cross.

So, when you think about where you will spend eternity, don’t stand there like a two-year-old, stomping your feet and screaming, I do it myself! Humble yourself before the Lord, acknowledge your sin and ask Jesus into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior. For his directions are clear and easy to understand. 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

For more information on how you can receive Christ’s free gift of forgiveness, please follow this link, https://stepstopeace.org/.