Move Over Paul

I’m speaking of Paul in The Bible. He said in scriptures that he was the chiefest of all sinners. Paul? Yeah, right!

Last year I attended a meeting at church about prayer. There was a guest speaker at this two day event. Simon Mbevi is his name, from Nairobi Africa.

He was a very good speaker, with such stories to tell. Life, as you can imagine, is way different from what we know here in America. His stories were intriguing, to say the least.

Two things stuck out at me while he was speaking. One thing he said was that the people in his country, his hometown, pray for America. He said they need us to lead them spiritually. Wow! Really? We who have strayed so far from our spiritual values and beliefs.

And the other thing he said that has changed my way of thinking, it actually stopped me in my tracks, was that he, Simon Mbevi, was the chiefest of all sinners. This spiritual giant, by our churchy standards, was admitting to his faults, and instead of trying to impress us with the many feats he had performed in the name of the Lord, and I have a feeling they are many, was admitting to being a sinner.

I liked that…a lot. In fact, I liked what he said so much that I have decided to adopt that and incorporate that into my life. What a freeing thing it is. I don’t have to pretend to be this holy person, worthy of respect and admiration. I am a sinner saved by grace. The chiefest of all sinners no less. For just as soon as I think I may be on the right track, may be not quite as bad as my brother next to me, then bam, I have become arrogant and that is a sin.

How freeing it is to not try to impress you with my knowledge of The Bible, or how often I pray and spend time with the Lord, the works that I do, and the offerings that I give. It’s all just a feeble attempt to gain importance in the eyes of others, and the eyes of the Lord. He is not impressed, and I somehow think you might not be either.

Take my life and let it be, all for You and for Your glory. Take my life and let it be Yours.

Signed me, the biggest sinner of them all…but free.