O how strange, that God should love a worm, a dung-hill worm!

(An excerpt from the diary of James Smith)  LISTEN to audio!  Download audio

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August 28, 1857.
If some of my congregation knew me better, they would love me less.
Yet my heavenly Father . . .
  knows me well,
  favors me much, and
  loves me wonderfully!

O how strange, that God should love a worm, a dung-hill worm—one who . . .
  was bred in sin,
  loved sin,
  felt at home in sin, and
  at times felt regret that he was debarred from some sins!

O if God had left me to myself—what would I have been, and what would I have done!
"But by the grace of God—I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10

Surely, surely, I must say, that divine love and wisdom have planned my path—from first to last.
I am . . .
  out of Hell,
  on the way to Heaven,
  employed by God,
  useful to saints, and
  a blessing to sinners!
O how wonderful, how wonderful is this!

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Something to ponder:
"If our life is not a course of humility, self-denial, renunciation of the world, poverty of spirit, and heavenly affection—we do not live the lives of Christians." William Law