Seeing Sin Without Obsessing Over It

I bless you to know
The predicament of sin
And your powerlessness over sin
Apart from Christ
Because, like an exhausted swimmer
In the deeps,
It is the prospect of drowning that
Makes the rescuer’s life preserver
So beautiful and attractive and indispensable
In your eyes.

To know the predicament of sin
And your powerless over sin
Is not to be preoccupied with your sin.

The sinking swimmer need only know
That the water is too deep
And the distance too far.
He need not rehearse the poverty of
His breaststroke or
The sluggishness of his freestyle.
No, the sinking swimmer has no time for shame,
It only weighs him further down.

The sinking swimmer needs only know
He is out of his depth and needs the lifeguard.

May you see your sin
Only so you can see your Savior.