Stuck Against the Glass

I was watching an insect desperately trying to fly through our glass window. No matter how hard it tried, it had no success – it could see what it wanted but no amount of effort would get it there. We are sometimes like this insect. We see something we want and, even after continual failed attempts, we keep trying. Nowhere is this more true than in our spiritual life. The apostle Paul was brought up trying his hardest to follow the law to earn eternal life, following every ritual and requirement to the best of his ability. Yet he laments, "For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing… What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?" (Romans 7:19, 24). Unlike the insect, Paul realises he simply cannot get through the "glass" and reach the life he wants by his own effort. If I had opened the window, the insect could have entered. We need someone to open the way to new life – the life of eternity. And Paul continues: "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25). If it feels like you simply can't experience the joy and peace Jesus promised, don't try harder – try Jesus. Ask him to open the way. (Craig B). Open Bible – bit.ly/Rom7v19, bit.ly/Rom7v25