Receive

I am a nursing major at a liberal arts college. Going into my British literature course, I doubted I would get anything out of it. I convinced myself to just get through it, and it would be over soon, and then I could focus on the classes that really mattered. You know what? I have learned so much about God in this course, it blows my mind. God has placed such beautiful treasure of truth in the texts that we have read, and they have revealed something new about Him to me everyday. Today, I was sad when class ended because it was so beautiful. We read the poem below:

Love (3) By George Herbert (1593-1633)

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,

Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack

From my first entrance in

Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,

If I lacked anything.

"A guest," I answered, "worthy to be here":

Love said, "You shall be he."

"I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,

I cannot look on thee."

Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,

"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth Lord, but I marred them; let my shame

Go where it doth deserve."

"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"

"My dear, the I will serve."

"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."

So I did sit and eat.

We are frail. Dust. Human.

God is Love -- quick-eyed, sweet, welcoming Love.

My professor put it this way:

 When we think about God's Love for us, His salvation, His grace, and His mercy, we feel unworthy of it. No matter how much we do, how much we read scripture, we come before Him feeling like we are showing up to a fancy White House dinner in flip flops and shorts. Yet, God invites us to His great banquet, we the frail, the unworthy, the messy. We try to refuse his invitation, saying we haven't done enough to deserve it. In fact, we have marred most of the gifts he has given us. We try to become worthy by offering to do and give anything that will make us suitable to receive His grace, but God tells us that we are his guest. He asks us to sit at his table, and receive the sacrifice of His son. 

God tells us that it's not about us being worthy. He is worthy, we are made in His image, therefore, He has made us worthy already! 

All he asks of us is to receive. 

This poem reminds me of Colossians 1:

Christ Is Supreme 15Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,e 16for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. 18Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead.f So he is first in everything. 19For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. 21This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.22Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.