Unbelievable

I remember reading about when C.S. Lewis had his eyes opened to the true reality of his nature. He was taken aback, as we all are when this happens to us, to have to admit how hard his heart was. In his atheist days he truly believed that he didn’t need God in order to be a good person. After he came alive Lewis was shocked by a self-will that was almost infinitely obstinate. His passions were beyond control as were his volatile thoughts and imagination. As Lewis describes us all, we are a den of wild beasts barely able to be governed.

What Lewis is describing can be summed up in the line, “Dog’s don’t bark at parked cars.” Both Jesus and satan pretty much leave the self-righteous alone. Those who think they are good people, both the religious and the non religious, don’t draw satan’s attention because they already belong to him. Neither do they draw Jesus’ attention for He said, “I have come to save, not the self-righteous but those who know and admit they are sinners.” And it is these sinners, those who grieve over their sinful nature that satan attacks / tempts most diligently. Repentance is the last thing that satan wants to see happen.

Until one tries to be good - especially as it pertains to pure motives - we simply can’t comprehend the extent of the overhaul that is required. On the journey to salvation we are forced to accept that even our “good” behaviours are “old nature” tools geared to manipulate and control our environment and our image of ourselves. We even use “good” behaviours to get from God what we want OR to con God into protecting us from what we don’t want.

Sin invades every corner of our being.

Of course after we’ve allowed God to show us the way out of this mess - everything changes. It strikes us as truly unbelievable that we once thought both we and the world were pretty decent places.

As we watch the transformation into a “new creation” unfold, the new nature staggers under the fact that either the world has dramatically changed or it is we who have changed.

I thank you Lord for showing us the true state of our being.