The Sloth and the Gospel

When I saw this video of a sloth trying to cross a busy street I immediately thought of the Gospel.  Before you know how it ends you assumption may be "this is not going to end well", if you are like me you may be thinking this sloth is going to get creamed by a speeding car. However, spoiler alert...a man intervenes and take the sloth safely across the road. The man bridges the gap and delivers the sloth safely across the road.

Spiritually speaking we are just like the sloth. We are trying to cross from from this life into the next on our own, we are trying to bridge the gap based on our works, on what we do, hoping it will be enough. The end result is that we will be crushed by the weight of our sins before a Holy God.

Isaiah 64: 6 - We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
    We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.  

Ezekiel 33: 13 - Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die.

Knowing this is what man would face, God had a plan in place in eternity past. He would send someone who would help us safely cross from this life to the next based on what he did, not on what we did. He lifted us out of our sins and carried us across the divide that was far too wide for us to cross on our own.

Ephesians 2: 8, 9 - 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; cit is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 5: 8 -  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Sometimes we can begin to think a little to highly of ourselves but the reality is we are not much more that this lowly sloth trying to cross the road. Thank God He sees us as worth redeeming based on what He did for us, not what we do for Him. This is the Gospel, this is Good News.