Look And Wonder
November 7, 2006 8:24 pmWe’ve been interviewing candidates for baptism lately. I love hearing people’s testimonies, how God intervened in their lives, setting them free from sin and turning them from their sprint towards hell.
I thought about these stories as I read the following paragraphs last night in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress:
He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending; and upon that place stood a Cross, and a little below in the bottom, a Sepulcher. So I saw in my Dream, that just as Christian came up with the Cross, his burden loosed from off his Shoulders, and fell from off his back; and began to tumble, and so continued to do, till it came to the mouth of the Sepulcher, and I saw it no more.
Then was Christian glad and lightsom, and said with a merry heart, He hath given me rest, by his sorrow; and life, by his death. Then he stood still a while, to look and wonder; for it was very surprizing to him, that the sight of the Cross should ths ease him of his burden. He looked therefore, and looked again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the waters down his cheeks.
Then Christian gave three leaps for joy, and went on singing.
Thus far did I come loaden with my sin,
Nor could ought ease the grief that I was in,
Till I came hither: What a place is this!
Must here by the beginning of my bliss?
Must here the burden fall from off my back?
Must here the strings that bound it to me, crack?
Blest Cross! blest Sepulcher! blest rather be
The Man that there was put to shame for me.
Let’s look and wonder again. Review your own testimony today: think about where you were headed and what the Lord saved you from. See if the springs that are in your head don’t send waters down your cheeks.
Categories: five15 blog

2 Responses to “Look And Wonder”
I so appreciated this post, Steve. It was particularly sweet for me because on Monday I celebrated my 30th anniversary of becoming a Christian! Throughout the day I thought about how God saved me from my wretched life of sin, and about how He continues to reveal His grace to me. Nothing I have learned in these 30 years is more profound than the fact that the Cross is the most beautiful and terrible sight in the world.
“Thus while the Cross my sins displays for all the world to view
Such is the mystery of grace, it seals my pardon too
With pleasing grief and mournful joy my spirit now is filled
That I should such a life destroy, yet live by Him I killed”
~John Newton
Thanks for pointing us to the Cross once again!
Mrs. Sawyer
Recently,
God has been giving me a greater wonder and gratefulness for my salvation through Jesus Christ.
With beginning a new season of life, I talk to people everyday at college that are very aimless, depressed, and nearly hopeless.
Just yesterday, after talking with someone at the cafeteria, I realized how grateful I was for the anchor & foundation that I have in The Bible & in Christ.
I know that apart from God saving a wretched sinner like me, I would be absolutely NO different than every other person I meet at college.
I have also been more thankful and amazed that I have the hope of heaven. This place…this earth, is not my home. I have been saved for a PLACE—Heaven—and for a PERSON—Jesus Christ. I am so glad I have an “anchor beyond the veil.”
“What joy, what peace, what love!”
Care to comment?