In 1555, a pious man named John Bradford was burned at the stake for the crime of being…a Protestant. Just before the flames were kindled, he encouraged his fellow martyr, a young man named John Leaf to: “Be of good cheer brother, for we shall have a happy supper with the Lord this night!”
A few years prior to his death, John Bradford said something even more enduring. While he witnessed a group of prisoners being led to their execution, he was moved with pity and humility. Knowing his own capacity for sin he uttered the immortal words, “There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.”
There is a profound lesson of humility in the phrase, “There but for the grace of God, go I.” It requires an admission of the very real sinfulness and selfishness within our own hearts. An awareness of our own propensity for evil and foolishness. We are all just one dumb decision away from destroying our lives.
It’s so easy to say “…Did you hear who got arrested for drunk driving this week?” “…Did you know so and so is having an affair?” “…They finally fired old what’s his name!”
But what if we didn’t rashly and arrogantly condemn or gossip? If we stopped to consider how close we are every single day to slipping and making the kind of mistake that plunges us into catastrophe. If we humbly admit how close we are to taking the first misstep on a path that leads to ruin?
There but for the grace of God go I.
As we spend Sundays this summer looking into the book of 1 Samuel, and its chiastic structure where the high are brought low and the low are brought high, it would be wise to remember that but for the grace of God we would be the ones in the story facing a divine Plot Twist that leads to our doom. Let’s pray to be on the humble side of that equation and thank God for His grace.
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble…” James 4:6
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you.” 1 Peter 5:6
“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12
By grace alone,
