I wear my mask...

I wear my mask everywhere I go.  I wear it to work, to church, to meetings, around my friends, in the shower, and even wear it to bed.  It never leaves, even when I kneel before my heavenly Father.  After all the lives I have saved, the damage I have prevented, the criminals who no longer menace society...they are part of my legacy.  The beautiful children that I have raised, with bright futures, good teeth, and good manners, they are some of the good things I have done.  My GPA is high, despite the setback of the past two and a half years.  Credit rating? Check.  Home ownership? Check.  And I am certainly not as bad as some of the people that I know…

But the mask gets stripped off.  Repeatedly.  “But God…”  “Jesus died for you.”   “Remember when…?” “Jesus had to die for you.”  “But those others…”  “I don’t recognize you, pagan, self-righteous sinner…Jesus died for you, because you are so filthy, I cannot stand your stench.  You were my creation, perfect in every way, and one simple rule I made, one small act of obedience.  And you fouled it.  Your sin is the sin of your forefathers.  How dare you?!?”  With no mask, I see who I really am, how nasty I am, how unworthy to stand even in the presence of other sinners, much less before a truly righteous God.  “Oh, my God, my Creator, what am I to do?”

“Shut up child.  Shut up and listen to me.  While you were yet a sinner, I sent Jesus.  You certainly don’t deserve the time it takes to condemn you, but I want you to come home, to sit at My table, to enjoy My good gifts.  Listen to My Word, to the Living Word, Jesus.  Just as I said, you have been baptized with Him, buried and raised, with your sins gone.  You do not need the mask.  You are as I have created you.  You may not approve of yourself, but you should.  I approve of you.  When I look at you, I see Jesus reflected in you.  Would you mask the visage of My Son?  Discard that foolish mask.  When you look in the mirror and see what you used to be, what you will always be before other sinners, remember that I see Jesus in you, through you, and over you.  His blood is your new image in My eyes. 

“Remember that your faith is My faith within you, that I placed there when you could not even see it, and did not know what it was.”