Come just as you are...

How many times have you been for a job interview where you have had to dress smartly and you worry if you are going to be good enough for the position? These days, the job market is a very cut throat world with each job being fiercely competed for. Every rejection knocks us down a little and we ask ourselves what we could have done better, what was better about the person who finally got the job?

I think if we all look back into our lives we can find times when we have had some form of rejection because some form of imperfection, no matter how small. For me, I remember failing a course in the army because of a defect in my spine. I was truly gutted, I was never going to be able to achieve a goal that I had my heart set on. But that feeling was temporary and I bounced back.

Thankfully, there is one area of our lives where we don't have to worry about how we look, what skills we have or what baggage we are carrying. God wants us just as we are, warts and all. This has been so important to me recently. Not just spiritually but knowing no matter how my life has turned out, no matter where I am or where I maybe going I can be safe in the knowledge that I don't have to prove myself to anyone. If I'm good enough for God, then why should I worry what mortal man thinks. God is amazing, gracious, loving, and forgiving, so He calls us to salvation, even though we don’t deserve it. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us , making it possible for us to receive forgiveness. He requires us to confess and forsake our sins when we come to Him, but He receives us just as we are. We all sin, every single one of us, regardless of our crime he still wants us to come to him. So pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and just take them to the foot of the cross.