There were a few people waiting for the elevator to arrive when a small group of young people suddenly appeared and pushed their way to the front and rushed in as soon as the doors opened. I had to smugly smile to myself as I got on last. They were now trapped in the rear while I was first to get off. “The last shall be first and the first shall be last.”
For many it always is “Me first.” I get the same smug feeling when someone cuts me off in his car as he rushes ahead only to be stopped by a traffic light. As I pull up alongside and once again he leaps forward only to have me slowly pull up alongside at the next light, I want to look and laugh. So the question is “Who has the problem?” Is it he or me or both of us? Do I have the same “Me first” complex? Is it just that I have learned to play the game a bit more wisely? Perhaps the issue is my smugness. The human heart is a deceitful thing. Perhaps we never get better just more subtle. We just learn to play the game.
Paul’s words in Romans 7 bounce about in my mind, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” I am so thankful he answers his question in Romans 8.
Written by Roger Bothwell on May 10, 2012
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org