What Do I Bring to the Table?

Answer: Nothing.

This week has been a real struggle for me.  I opened up to a friend about my struggle with feelings of indifference and apathy...at work, at home, and in life.  Just a feeling of defeat in my indifference.

And then it hit me. I don't have anything to offer.  And if I did, have anything to offer that would be one more area in my life where I would not need God.  It's as if God has been gently reminding me of who I am apart from him.  Who am I kidding, I am nothing apart from him.

I think, until we get in touch with this fact, we will always see ourselves as partially in need of a Savior; hence, it plays in to our narrative of calling on God when we need him.  Calling up the good ol Father when our funds are running low.  When we don't see ourselves as a broke joke, we revert to calling him when we need our heavenly bail bondsman.

What will it take for the Church to accept the fact that they bring nothing to the table and that anything good inside us is not from us, but rather from God, or as a result of abiding in him?  Who will go before God and say, "aren't you glad I chose you and that I brought all of my good works to the fight?"

I'm pretty sure our good works are just like a dirty tampon.  In fact, that's what Isaiah 64:6 means:

We have all become like one who is unclean,    and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.We all fade like a leaf,    and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

The context here are Israelites who have turned from God to include the prophet Isaiah.  But are there any believers alive today who believe they are better than these apostates?  If anything, I may be in a worse category because of the times I live in; namely, I got the completed Bible and the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The Hebrew word iddah is translated "polluted," which literally means "the bodily fluids from a woman's menstrual cycle."  How disgusting is that!?  Our good works are tantamount to a dirty tampon!  Thanks for the visual Lord!  Seriously, thanks for that reminder.

I'll end how I began.  I/we/you have nothing to offer.  Well, actually, we have something to offer, but it stinks!  If I have any love in my heart, I'll thank God for putting it there.  It definitely wasn't there before he put it there.

Friends, God loves you. I'm glad he was able to use my life to illustrate just how awesome He is despite me.