Pastor’s Weekly Devotional

Have you ever really thought about the depth of God’s mercy and grace toward you? Sometimes, as Christ followers, we become lax – we lose perspective – we become acutely gifted at seeing the ‘spec’ in other’s eyes while, at the same time, navigating the ‘plank’ that’s sticking out of our own. I suspect this is why our Lord (and his apostles) spoke so often in scripture on the topics of love and forgiveness. We all want it. We all appreciate it when offered to us, but we seem to forget, at times, that it’s equally important to extend that same love and forgiveness to others who have performed below our desired level of expectation.

I took my first senior pastorate in Spokane Washington in 1997. Tammy and I were living temporarily with some friends from Northview Bible Church on a beautiful mountainside home in eastern Spokane called ‘Green Bluff’. I would often take long walks through the orchards surrounding their property to pray, think, and listen to spiritually uplifting music. There was a popular Christian song on the radio at the time by artist Michael W. Smith that caught my attention. I remember hearing this song and fighting back tears because of how true many of the words were of me. Consider the lyrics to this special song below:

Still today, after nearly thirty years, I get a bit choked up reading those words. I’ve been all those things and more at various points of my Christian life. I still can highlight several items in the above lyrics that are true of me right now. What’s the point, Pastor? I’m often today still unworthy – unbroken – unrighteous – unexceptional – all these years later. However, then and now, I’ve never been unloved.