A Smiling Soul

~Grace through Faith~

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Gloria! Read that again.

Now open this link, turn up your speakers, and read the passage again--this time out loud: http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

Is your soul smiling?

This is what really, truly matters. Nothing else that you can dream up compares to this truth. I know it's hard to keep this attitude of grateful awe fresh in our hearts. Sometimes, I get pretty bogged down in humdrum daily things that just siphon away my hours. School assignments. Chores. Reading. Writing. Going. Doing. Running late. Running on time. And so the days wing away. They're going to be gone, soon. We feel young and ageless now, like our whole lives are still stretched out before us, but this is not reality. It is a mirage; we cannot know the number of our days. It is an illusion to believe that you have decades of time left to do the "really important" things, and now is simply a good time to have fun. Not so. There is a contemporary band, called OneDirection, who have a wildly popular song called, "Live While We're Young" (or something to that effect--I can't remember and I only heard it once). Here's their gist: live it up now and give in to every fleshly passion that you possibly can, because there is no point to life other than to revel in folly and sinful debauchery. Appealing to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Carnality enthroned. And, I might add, it's sneakily attractive to the old nature in each of us. But, remember? That old nature was--what? Crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

Redeemed; how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!
Redeemed through his infinite mercy;
His child and forever I am!

Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence
With me doth continually dwell.

I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.

I know I shall see in His beauty
The King in whose way I delight;
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,
And giveth me songs in the night.
  
(I don't own this lovely picture, & I don't know who does. It reminds me of my Redeemer and his tender, glorious love for me.)