A Revelation With My Son...

Today my Son turned 7.  I decided to take him on a father/son hike to do cool boy stuff like carve our name in a tree and talk about life.

I asked him, "so, buddy, what do you think life is all about?"  "Praising Jesus" he said.

 I thought that was rad.  Then he shared about an incident when he was mad at mommy and went in his room and wrote "my mom is stupid" on a piece of paper!  I thought to myself, wow! that's deep and perfect timing.  And how brave of my little guy to get honest and vulnerable with his wacked out dad who flips off the handle for little stuff.  He's fearless.  So I met him where he wanted to go.

I praised him for being honest and sharing something that was embarrassing.  then I shared that I had that thought yesterday; namely, that I thought mommy was "stupid."

Then came the lesson that God made so clear in my mind a day earlier:  "You know why you did that buddy?  because that's exactly how you will think every day without God.  You know why daddy thought mommy was stupid?  because I am a bad husband without God and thats how I will always think when God's thoughts are not my thoughts.  All of my thoughts are evil and bad.  Thats why I/We need God's thoughts to be ours.  We are nothing without him."

I asked him, "do you think there are any 'good' people in the world?"  Without blinking an eye, he replied, "no."  Then I asked, "do you think your daddy is a good person?" "no" he replied.  That was such a blessing because he now knows that I cannot and will not be his savior.  He will know from very early on that there are no good people in the world. 

And that's what God has been teaching me this week.  That my heart goes "black" or evil or wishes harm on others and I simply don't care because THAT is who I am without him.  I'm not 80% in need of God, I'm actually 100%.  I'm pathetic and that's what it means when I say I'm broken and in need of a Savior.  I'm not most of the time in need of a Savior, I'm dead in the water without him.

I think the deception that is gaining momentum today is the notion that we are kinda good and hence kinda in need of a Savior.  The evidence of this is when we get shocked when we find someone to be mean, cruel, or evil.  I think when I am shocked that my wife said something not so nice that I have forgotten that she is in need of a Savior.  Because I have bought into the lie that she is "kinda" in need of a Savior.  No, no, no.  I reject that lie and accept the truth that she is 100% in need of a Savior and I need NOT be surprised when I realize that on any given day.  

Right after I shared this story, my friend, Sean, sent me Romans 7 and it knocked my socks off.  I am the man in Romans 7...

15For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.