Gaps

One of my favorite things to hear when I am in England is the automated voice that comes on in the subway when you get on or off. It says "mind the gap" meaning to watch out for the space or gap between the platform and the train. Well lately I feel like there have been some gaps in my life. These are gaps between what I understand theologically in my mind and what I feel/believe in my heart. The first of these is really realizing the depth of my own depravity. Part of it is that I have always been a "good" kid and never really got in trouble or disobeyed my parents. That is not to say that I did not do anything wrong but I was always the one the other kids hated and the other parents loved. The teachers loved me too. The point of all of this is that I have always been able to find lots of people that I am better than. And when I compare myself to them, I feel pretty good about myself and feel that God ought to feel pretty good about me as well. But that is not reality, the Bible does not teach that and when I am compared to God then I fall way short. So I have this in my mind but not my heart and I need to bridge that gap. For as Jesus said " He who is forgiven little loves little". I do not want to be one who loves little but one who loves extravagantly.
The second gap is somewhat similar. It is that I do not fully comprehend the depth of God's love for me. Part of that relates to the idea above where I somehow feel like God should love me because I am a pretty good guy. That is so unbiblical, but I am being honest with you and bareing my soul. I think that if I really understood in my heart how much He loved me, then my worship would be different. My responding to Him in praise and thanksgiving would be different. I would have a greater desire to share the love of God with others. My priorities would shift and I would find my satisfaction in Him alone. Paul prays for his church plants that they know the depth of God's love (Rom. 8 and Eph. 1) because he knows how important it is. And so it is that I pray it for me and you should probably pray it for yourself and the ones you love, to "mind the gap".