Race you to the bottom!

I read something today from the book, "Gospel Transformation." "Christianity is a race--to the bottom."

There is a lot of depth (pardon the pun) in that statement. But what a great reminder for me as I start out in a new year. The kingdom that has captured me is a kingdom of paradoxes. My weakness is where I find his strength. In self-reliance, I find frustration and lack of fruit. There is no room for the pick-me-up-by-the bootstraps gospel when the cross is in focus. Remember, the real gospel of grace says, "you don't have any boots!"

Let me share something with you from my book, "Breathing Grace":

"Have you ever heard of a “café coronary?” It is medical slang for a person dying of an airway obstructed by food.

Pride is the spiritual café coronary.

When I was in high school, my family took a trip to see my grandparents. I liked taking trips because it was a chance to eat out in restaurants. On this Sunday afternoon, my family was eating together in a Howard Johnson’s. I wanted dessert, but my father nixed it, saying I didn’t need it. “And money doesn’t grow on trees.”
How many times have I used that same line on my kids now?
A few moments later, I looked up to see an elderly man stagger to his feet, clutching at his throat. I pointed. “That man can’t breathe!”
The next second, my father, a family physician, was on his feet. He reached around the man from behind and performed a Heimlich maneuver, popping the offending pickle from the man’s trachea. The man’s life was saved, and I remember the pride I felt after watching my father in action.
When my father went to pay the bill, the manager refused. My father had more than paid our debt by preventing a death in the restaurant.
What was my response? Looking back, I can see the gospel debt in my words.
“Since it was free, you should have let me get dessert.”
Amazing. I went from thankful for a saved life to thinking about my own stomach in light-speed. I’d like to say that was typical teenager behavior that I’ve outgrown, but the truth is, I can still slip from living in the sufficiency of grace (where I extend grace to others because I am living in acknowledgement of my own need for grace) to gospel debt in seconds.
But thankfully, just as quickly as a Heimlich maneuver can open an obstructed airway, acknowledging our need is the first step in opening up the floodgates holding back God’s grace."

You see, I think walking in humility is a key to walking in grace. And as quickly as a blocked airway precipitates a physical crisis, walking in pride sets us up in a dry position, thirsty for grace.

Anyway, just my thoughts. Walking forward in grace begins with humility and repentance.

I'll race you to the bottom!