Ice Scrapers

  I cleaned out my trunk last week for the trunk or treat at the church.  I found three ice scrapers in there.  For the life of me, I can't remember the last time I needed one ice scraper, let alone three.  We have a garage, and it rarely is cold enough that I need one after work.  Certainly I don't need them in the summer.  And yet I've been carrying them around.  (I'm sure my gas mileage will improve without the extra two pounds to lug around!)

  It got me to thinking about what else I carry around with me.  We were talking last week in Bible study about forgiveness--mostly about how we have such a hard time forgiving ourselves.  We don't surrender to God's grace and mercy, rather putting up a resilient fight with all the resources we can muster to hold onto our sins.  I wondered aloud if there was some benefit to remembering sins, that we might not be doomed to repeat them, in a take on the Santayana quote that has been bandied around often lately.  Surely, though, we would do ourselves a grand favor in allowing our sins to melt like the newly-fallen snow on a sunny winter day.  I can't imagine how much junk I'm dragging around because I'm too stubborn to accept God's grace.

  I was reading over the questions for baptism, and I keep wondering how much I truly trust in Christ's grace and love?  Do I still foolishly believe my own strength is enough?