John 8:35

works or grace? it's so easy to get into that mindset where we feel we have to somehow earn God's approval (as if we ever could!!) When I came across this verse of scripture several years ago, Jesus' contrast between a slave and a son really struck me. We have the choice between labouring in vain (at a safe distance) or being willing to simply come into His presence (I really mean make ourselves present to Him, who is already fully there) and sit at his feet and name him our father.

JOHN 8:35

Dispensable, a labourer of lust,
I toiled the miraged fields to raise delight;
And, desperate, struggled on in thirst's despite,
For a slave's wages are but ashen dust,
And, at the end, he shall betray my trust.
The door is locked against me, come the night.
The crown I yearned dissolves before my sight,
And I am turned away without a crust.

Better to be the boughten of His love,
Child of His heart, and given my own key,
Member, forever, of His family,
With promised place for me in home above.
Never to be rejected, turned aside,
And every need forevermore supplied.