Tuesday, November 15, 2005

On Trust and the Trustworthy

From Galatians 2:16
Only by faith in Jesus Christ is a man made holy in God's sight. No observance of the law can achieve this.
We read this every Tuesday night before chanting eleven verses of psalm 143, A prayer to God to hear my appeal. A pledge to trust the trustworthy God.

What a relief this snippet of Paul's proclamation should be. I cannot make myself worthy of God's gift of holiness, of salvation. Only God can give the gift. Obedience to the rules will not make me a good boy, welcome at the Feast. So I will have to try to trust the trustworthy God, to love me for Jesus' sake. Even my trying will not be enough.
For your name's sake, Lord save my life;
in your justice save my soul from distress.