Grace in Christ 22

Where do we find the grace of God most richly felt?  Do we find it in our greatest successes?  Do we find it in our busiest activities?  Do we find it in our quiet sitting at the feet of Jesus?  Consider the mad man of the Gadarenes.  When he had been healed of his demon possession, he was found at Jesus’ feet.  Consider Mary in the account of Mary and Martha.  Martha was busy and Mary was found at Jesus’ feet.  In Luke 14 Jesus told a parable in which he told His hearers to take the lowest seat at the table.  Then, if the host should elevate you it will be an honor to be elevated.  Taking the seat of self elevation, however, could lead to great disappointment. 

Using this parable as a backdrop for a hymn, Johnson Oatman – who wrote the lyrics for nearly 5,000 hymns and gospel songs, wrote the words for the hymn “At My Redeemer’s Feet”.  Oatman’s first stanza reads, “I ask not for the highest place, but find a spot more sweet, where God bestows on me His grace, at my Redeemer’s feet.”  From this place of simple humility we can be elevated to whatever heights that God in His grace might have for us. 

But wait!  Our mind reels at that one word “might”.  We are not alone.  The disciples seemed to be in a constant dispute about which of them was the most important.  Jesus reminded them that the most insignificant child was the most important and that He had come to be a servant and not an overlord.  Oatman covered this contingency of our human expectations with his chorus.  “Come joy or pain, come weal or woe, in Christ I am complete; my highest place is lying low, at my Redeemer’s feet.” 

How much higher can we get than to be seated in the heavenlies with Christ?  That is our position both now and forever as children of God.  Our eternity will be right where we need to be seeing ourselves each day in this life, at Jesus’ feet.  Oatman finished his hymn with this verse, “And when I reach the mystic sea, where earth and Heaven meet,
I’ll spend a blest eternity, at my Redeemer’s feet.”  Let us rejoice in the grace of God that has brought us already to this lofty position of sitting at the feet of Jesus. 

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