If Grace Is Free, Why Is This So Hard?

One of my favorite sci-fi shows is Farscape. Every couple of years, I rewatch it because I think it’s that good. While there are loads of meme-worthy sayings in the show, I find myself repeating a particular one way too often:

“Why so difficult?!”

For some reason, what should be a simple task sometimes gets harder for no clear reason. Other times it just feels like a way of life, as if nothing is ever easy, no matter how much help we might get. I am, of course, referring to being a Christian.

Before I was a Christian, my life wasn’t easy, but I never expected it to be easy. When I graduated from high school, someone asked me what I intended to do afterwards; I told them, “Survive.” That was it. I didn’t have a three-step plan for success, and I had no plans except for making it through each day.

However, when I was saved, it was the beginning of a new day. It was a new dawn, and I was going to seize it.

Ironically, I thought it would be easy.

Why Do You Love People?

Before I was saved, I had a love/hate relationship with people. On one hand, I hated people. People are obnoxious and self-serving. We typically look out only for Number One. On the other hand, individuals are almost an entirely different breed. While they can still be obnoxious and self-serving, they can also be loving and kind. Even small groups can be loving and kind, but there’s some magic number or something at which love and kindness shift into apathy and intolerance.

I remember earlier this year when a helicopter crashed on the freeway in Sacramento. I wasn’t there, but I saw the footage. Someone was trapped under the helicopter while people got out of their cars to lift it so first responders could get to them. In that moment, everyone worked together to save someone’s life. This type of thing isn’t that rare. As individuals and in small groups, when the chips are down, people usually step up to the plate and hit a home run.

I’d even go so far as to say that on these occasions, people are motivated by something they cannot comprehend: love and respect for life.

Why Does Paul Say Jesus Was Revealed “In” Him?

But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.

Galatians 1:15-16 (NIV)

In this passage, Paul says Jesus was revealed “in” him rather than “to” him. Although we often describe ourselves as being “in Christ,” meaning we’re part of the body of Christ, I found it curious that Paul describes God’s revelation of Jesus this way.

When I compared translations, my curiosity grew because some, like the English Standard Version (ESV), say “to me” instead. Still, the majority favor the “in me” (Greek: en emoi) rendering. There is a difference, so I’m wondering which one is correct.

What Are You Wearing?

I have a closet full of clothes I don’t wear because the weight I gained during COVID refuses to come off. It doesn’t seem to matter what I do; it’s like my fat cells have accepted Jesus and refuse to die.

Ironically, I lived most of my life without being able to gain weight. As long as I took care of my clothes, I could wear them for years. I still have a pair of Sebago Docksides I bought with my first paycheck in 1985. They sit next to the biker boots I bought in 1987. The same boots I’ve worn in my travels through Canada and Europe. Of course, I’ve had the soles replaced a few times, but they still look good, and they still fit.

And when ’80s and ’90s fashion trends returned, I just opened up my closet and was good to go. But unfortunately, gaining and retaining weight means those clothes sit there, mocking me. The most painful loss is a custom-made suit from 1957 that I picked up in a thrift store in Santa Barbara. I have always been amazed that some guy in 1957 and I had the same broad shoulders but a slim build.

How I miss wearing that suit!

The odds are you also have a closet full of clothing. Hopefully, you can wear it. But did you know that, for thousands of years, clothing was a luxury item?