We get over the Gospel way too easily.

 

We need the Gospel to be right with God.  Without the Gospel we are sinners hopelessly and eternally separated from God.  Without the Gospel we are helplessly under the dominion of sin.  Without the Gospel we are doomed, damned and hell bound.

 

Our need for the Gospel is not predicated on a better marriage or happier home.  Our need for the Gospel is predicated on having a right relationship with the Father through the Son.  We need the Gospel because we need God.

 

But, the misery we as professing Christians inflict upon ourselves and others is all too often related to how easily we get over the Gospel.

 

We get saved.  We get baptized.  We join a church.  Then we proceed with life – marriage, family, job, etc. – as if the Gospel is somehow unrelated to who we are and what we do between "getting saved" and "going to heaven."  It's as if salvation is a "Whew!" moment.  I got saved.  I have escaped hell.  Now it's on with life.

 

But what would happen if we lived every day in the shadow of the cross?  What would happen if every day was lived in the recognition of our desperate need for God's grace?  What if we lived every day understanding our need for God's mercy?  What if from our salvation forward our lives were lived rooted in the Gospel?

 

Would it affect our marriages?  Would it impact our homes?  Would it change the way we handle the stresses of job and health and daily life in this world?

 

The joy of the Christian life that supercedes the frustrations and hurts and pains of living in this world flows out of the Gospel as we daily embrace the cross and are embraced by the grace of God.  Constantly consumed with the overwhelming love of God found in the Gospel we are overcome with that peace that passes understanding.

 

Oh, may we never get over the Gospel.