Just Breathe

Life is such a blessing. Even more the ability to view life and observe it on a daily basis is a blessing that is so underserved, and yet so undervalued. Here I am in the third largest city in the United States of America and still I fail to grasp the sheer weight of my fortune. The only thing that is becoming more clear to me is that I don't belong. I don't deserve this. Why me? Why don't I get to suffer in the vast emptiness of my own despair? I pass the homeless as they cry out for change, I don't flinch. I see the child wandering the streets, I hardly notice the bruises. I hear the cry of the drunken and stoned, I pretend to feel some deranged form of pity. The truth is I just do not care, but WHY!? I have been saved from sin and death by the unmatched love of my LORD JESUS CHRIST yet I fail to show even a portion of this love to the less fortunate around me. Failure.

So I Breathe. I remember that tomorrow is a new day. But no, the next minute is a new minute. Why wait for tomorrow to show the love I have been freely given today?

So I Breathe. I remember that God has bestowed upon me a spirit of POWER...not to mention a spirit of love with which to love the humanity I encounter.

So I Breathe. I quiet my cluttered mind and embrace the SOUND MIND my Father in Heaven has been so merciful in providing.

So I Breathe. I remember that tract in my pocket. Not the one that condemns the recipient, but the one that shows her need for a Savior, his need for redemption.

So I Breathe. I refuse that nagging feeling trying to remind me of my PRIDE. Trying to make me feel ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So I Breathe.

I approach humanity through the eyes of a carpenter. A man, just like me, and yet nothing like me, for this man was God. He looked down on mankind, but not as those who look down as a result of pride. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, firstborn over all creation, looked down at me from a tree. My master banished my sin with one victorious act of utter humility coupled with complete power.

The point I am driving at is that when I walk the streets of Chicago I want to put on a new pair of glasses. A new viewpoint, perspective, vision; and I want to embrace the humanity I encounter in the same way my Savior did. Unlike my Savior, however, I am no better than any person I meet. I am a sinner, albeit saved by grace, but still a sinner. I fall short on a daily basis so how can I possibly judge the homeless man who asks for change?

So I Breathe. And I thank God for his creation, ALL of his creation. I thank him for the beauty of the sunset, for the begger I gave change and a tract to today. I thank him for the family I've been blessed with, and for the addict I prayed with on Wells Ave. Most of all I thank my Savior for the cross from which He looked down on me, saw my need, and offered me the living water of his salvation.