Have you ever stopped to consider that the absolute first qualification for becoming a Christian is not that you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God (that is actually step #2), but to be a sinner? If you have no sin you are not lost and therefore do not need to be saved through Christ. Christianity is a religion for sinners. And while no disrespect is intended toward Paul when he describes himself as the "chief of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15), I would argue that I am at least a Deputy Chief of sinners. I do my best to be slow to judge concerning others because I know first hand that no matter how low you go He can lift you high enough to sit with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) and that if you don't watch your step you can fall back just as low (1 Corinthians 10:12). There is often a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning (to quote Jimmy Buffett).
If this is the soundtrack to my life, then this cut is a Gospel song. The song is "Once He Finds Us" and is written and performed by Todd Snider. Todd Snider is a self described hippie, and although he and I would find ourselves on opposite sides of many issues, one thing we can sing in perfect harmony is this song.
I don’t know how I found Jesus
I don’t care now he’s in my heart
And once he finds us
He never leaves us
No matter how far we fall apart
I used to wonder what I was missing
I used to think that I was missing things
Now the words of calmer voices
Sound like angels bowing strings
He was there when nobody else was
He was there when the work was thin
He was there when my father left us
I am here now to work for him
With the exception of the line about my father leaving us (which he has never done), when I hear this song in my mind I see a video montage of my life on a loop. When I "found Jesus" (or did He find me?), I wasn't honestly looking. If anything, I accidentally (providentially?) bumped into Him. Regardless, He saved me, my marriage, my life, my family. And in the years since, my life has fallen apart several times and yet here He still is, putting the pieces back together, just like He promised He would ("He hath anointed me to....heal the brokenhearted" Luke 4:18). I have sat alone with Him when I saw my job disappear, despite having a new wife, a new baby and a new house, only to see Him appear with the answers and solutions. She has heard me say a dozen times, while looking back on our twenty years, "How did we get here?" Truth is, I don't know how I found Jesus, and I don't care now, He's in my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp6ShA-Fd0I
(for some reason it isn't letting me embed the video, but if you want to see it, copy the youtube link above and paste it in your web browser. It's worth a watch).
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