(Click here for a video of John reading this Catch.)
My first understanding of grace came by way of my worst understanding of me.
“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” (James 1:23-24)
I wonder if James wrote this for people like me who would spend a lot of time in church — hearing the word constantly and doing nothing about it. So when we look at ourselves in the mirror (the mirror of the law) and are horrified at what we see, of course we immediately forget it because it’s just too painful and too damning. I have devised all kinds of ways to forget what I see in that mirror. I was a Christian for many years before I really allowed myself to stare long and hard into that mirror and for the first time realize God’s grace was for me. I am the sinner I have been talking about most of my life! I am the pompous loser, and everyone but me could see it. I am the worst one.
John Fischer The Catch 