You Missed a Spot

As weird as this may sound…

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about His blood.

But I'll come back to that.
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A lot of my life I spent working, serving, giving.

Until I realized how absolutely foolish that was.

Well, let me clarify.

Did I even realize what I was doing?

Did I realize that when I was working, serving, giving, 

spending myself every minute of every day, 

I was ignoring the cornerstone of my faith- the cross?

By continuing to try to add to our faith with our daily strains and efforts to be “more Christian,” we are forgetting that nothing we could ever do could possibly be enough for the holiness of our God.

No “good deed of the day,” or “brownie point,” could ever amount to the sacrifice of the Son of God. 

Does this mean we stop working, serving, giving because Christ has done it all for us?

Absolutely not.

But we do stop doing is slaving, earning and striving to be good enough for God. 

Instead, we receive Christ.
We receive the highest price He paid for us, and with His Spirit inside of us,
we are made capable to live like He did- in love.

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A lot of my life I spent in shaming, condemning and judging.

Until I realized how absolutely foolish that was.

Well, let me clarify.

I would be embarrassed of my sin, on a daily basis.

So, I held on tight, I gripped close to me every little thing that I did that was displeasing to God.

Did I even realize what I was doing?

Did I realize that when I was hiding, holding, clenching my sin 

I was ignoring the cornerstone of my faith- the cross?

By continuing to take hold of our sin on a daily basis, 

we are forgetting that He has covered it all, that He has forgiven every piece of it.

Does this mean that we go on sinning? Or that we can forget about sinning because He died for our sins?

Absolutely not.

But we do stop shaming ourselves, condemning ourselves and judging ourselves, 

because God is now fully pleased with us, because of His Son.

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Cassie, I thought you said you were thinking about His blood?

I have been.

If we continue to work, on top of the work He has done,

If we continue to take hold of our sin, after He has paid the price in full,

we are essentially,

whether we realize it or not,

claiming that the cross just wasn’t quite enough to save us.

Thus, we have to do a little more.

Because the blood He shed just didn’t cover it.

Really,

with every good deed that we do in attempt to add to the cross to gain God’s approval of us,

with every time we beat ourselves up, to pay for our sins,

we are really saying

“Hey Jesus, You missed a spot.”

God doesn’t miss spots. Not one.

He didn’t send his perfect Son, to shed His perfect blood, to do an imperfect job.

Rest under the finished work of the Cross of Jesus and the entire payment of our sins.

And trust that when He died for us,

And when he said “It is finished,”

He got it covered.

“I’ve done all the work, but you keep on working” 
The Well- Casting Crowns
"So you thought that you could keep this up, 
all the work that you do, so you think that you're good 
and you can't believe it's not enough. 
All the walls you built up  are just glass on the outside. 
So let them fall down, there's freedom waiting in the sound."
Healing Begins- Tenth Avenue North
"...all our righteous acts are like filthy rags..." Isaiah 64:6

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold 
that you were redeemed from the empty was of life handed down to you from your foreathers, 
but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” 1 Peter 1:18-19

Dear Lord,

Thank you for not only having the power to cover every inch of my sin, but having the loving heart to do so. Please, teach me to continue to look to Your cross as the finished work of Your love for us. There is nothing I could ever do to earn it. You did not miss one spot when You came to earth to save us, and I praise You for Your perfection.

Thank you for allowing me to serve and love you in a freedom that will never mean “measuring up.”

I could never thank you enough.

But that won’t keep me from thanking you, serving you, and loving you all of my life.

I love you!

In Your Perfect Name,

Amen.