This humiliating truth went strongly home to me this morning to the effect that my inborn and natural nature can´t appreciate God or the things of God.  I´m too far away, even though He is not far from me or “from each one of us”  (Acts 17:27).

So it´s of no use by the way of my intellect, religious interest or my “excited” self-made spirituality to corner God no matter how good you are at religious performances on say a noisy, musical platform.  God can´t be approached that way.

However, His own broken and abased children once so far away is now “brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13) in repentance and “godly sorrow” (2 Cor. 7:10).  Indeed, we came broken to Him and we stay there - broken!

I wake up in the morning vividly aware that I can´t find spiritual life in my keen pursuit for biblical knowledge (John 5:39) which easily becomes “head knowledge”, but I´m helplessly dependent on Him coming to me through the awesome ministry of the Holy Spirit who transcends human efforts and in His mercy grants us  a “willing spirit” (Ps. 51:12).  And His willingness to read the Bible with me.  The help  of His Spirit in our complete weakness (Rom. 8:26) are the fundamental grounds of the gospel.  Any other “advanced” Christianity or spirituality is futile – and dead!

In a few days we´ll have a happy reunion of our American family on Danish soil, and I long to share with our beautiful grandchildren, three girls (16, 14, 12) the rich, spiritual legacy which their old grandfather (in Danish “morfar”) may hand down to them as it was once handed down to me through my grandparents.  That´s a great privilege which the apostle Paul is hinting at in 2 Tim. 1:5.

But that kind of spiritual is no less than Christ!  “Live for Him my godly grandfather wrote me on my 15th year of birthday, and it will be a happy life!”  It´s 70 years ago, and He was right.  Christ coming to my young life was the happiest event ever, and His constant coming by His Spirit (John 14:18) makes every day despite its sorrows a bright day!

Praise the Lord, it does mean that I have already a cheerful gospel answer ready for those who put the popular, American question to me, “How are you doing?”