As we work our way through Lent may the following poem help us reflect on our daily need for repentance as well as the confidence we have in Christ. The opening reminds us of the joy in heaven over a sinner who repents. See Luke 15:7
,10.
The world is not awed
No crowds applaud
People barely notice or care
Most are totally unaware
A few might pass head shaking
But behind the scene all of heaven is quaking
Echoing with roaring peals
Thundering joy as one sinner kneels
Unseen miracle changes the heart
And a dead slave of the Deceiver
Awakes a repentant believer.
This scene we long to see
Is part of our own history!
A little water and the Word
In our lives a miracle occurred
Ripped us free from living death
Gave us life by Spirit’s breath
Now no longer Satan’s slaves
Confident we’ll burst our graves
See our Savior come again
The one who died for every sin.
And yet the struggle day to day
Our future feels so far away
The sinful nature roars within
We often feed it, fall in sin
Seek our glory here on earth
Ache for things that have no worth.
On our trust may grow a crust,
A feeling that life’s up to us,
And if it were, we’d sure be lost
We cannot hope to pay the cost
Despair is where we must arrive
When humans human hope contrive.
And favorite sins we don’t call “sin”
Because they’re so ingrained within
And hard we try to justify
But in the end cannot deny
The truth that stands in Holy Law
That bares our every hidden flaw.
And if God’s law truth might sink in
If we felt in full our state of sin
We’d go insane and die right then
Unable to handle what we’ve been
So day by day we walk through life
The new and old in constant strife
Our best works still stained in sin
How deep the problem deep within!
And so we daily truth confess
That we are hopeless, helpless mess
Sinners lost if left alone
Trembling at God’s judgment throne
But greater is God’s awesome grace
He lifts each down-turned shame-filled face
With words of promise, life and love
We have a Savior from above!
God’s Son came here to live on earth
He fought our fight and gave us worth
He lived each moment flawlessly
Yet received each sinner’s penalty
Felt in full hell’s endless pain
For every single sinful stain
Died and killed the death we owe
Washed us whiter than the snow
And burst the grave, alive with might
So we stand perfect in God’s sight
We fix our eyes on mercy great
We live his grace to celebrate
So struggle on and fight the fight
God’s promises in constant sight
And ever may our hearts confess
The truth of all our sinful mess
Yet cling in faith to hope that’s real
That nothing in this life can steal
The truth of all our Savior’s done
The life we have from God’s own Son.
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