Romans 5:17 The Message
"...can
you imagine the breath-taking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who
grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand
setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?"
In reading through
Romans (which is one massive undertaking I might add) there are so many truths,
revelations, and challenges crammed into those 16 chapters that one can feel a
little overwhelmed. Like with the rest of this book, there are a lot of things
going on in this passage of verse but I want to cover just this little part
that stood out to me today during my quiet time.
While reading through
this section of verses I stopped on the words ‘both hands’. We have to grasp
this life-gift with both hands. When
you use both hands for something that means we have no other way to grasp
something else. I feel like too often we grasp the things of God with one hand
and continue to hold on to earthly things with the other.
Having a little baby I
found this analogy extremely relatable. When I’m holding my little son, who is
just now getting to where he can sometimes hold his own head up for any period of
time, I can often get by holding him with only one arm/hand. I can prop him up
on my shoulder and use one arm to support him and use my other hand to do
something else, like say text or cook or whatever else I need to be getting
done. And while I can do that for a little while, it really only works in
certain positions and doesn't allow me to take care of all of his needs. If I truly
want to support him and care for him properly, I have to hold onto him with both
hands. One hand just doesn’t work, it isn’t enough. So while we hold on to
Christ-like things with one hand, grasping what we want with our other hand, we
aren’t truly holding on like we should. And if a ‘wildly extravagant life-gift’
was placed before you, wouldn’t you want to reach out and grab it properly and
hold on tight in a way that you can only do if you give it your all and use
both hands?
