I was reading "Our daily bread" , and in that, I found the reference to Leo Tolstoy's story of an old cobbler called Martin.

'.....After the death of his wife and child, Martin cried out in despair to a godly old friend,"What nowis a man to live for?" his friend replied,"God, Martin. God" "And how must one live for God?" Martin asked. "Christ has shown the way" said his friend, the believer. "Buy the gospels and read." The same day Martin bought the New Testament and began to read... When he read Luke6:27-35, it suddenly hit him that Jesus' words were hard sayings. And that his life didn't measure up to Jesus' words...He cried out, "O Lord Help me!" .....'

I'm a new believer, and have been baptized on 27th Nov 2005. I'd already read the book Luke by then. But today, after reading this particular article... I reread Luke6:27-35... And it hit me too, it hit me HARD. I ended up in tears, when I realised, that my life even after coming to the Lord was not up to what Jesus wants me to be. I too cried out to the Lord, praying earnestly, that He remove my shortcomings, and fill me with compassion. It was perhaps my first real prayer to God. This was the first time, that I really found me falling so short of being His beloved, and yet He loves me. The feeling made me so overwhelmed. I am so blessed....

And so is everyone else on this Earth. God loves us so mightily. He loves us despite all we've done. Knowingly and unknowingly, we've grieved His heart. But He still loves us.

I hope this blog will make many of you realise like me, where you have fallen short of His words, and may you all pray for deliverance from them. May you all follow His steps...
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Obeying Christ can seem too hard,
But we must come and see
That all He asks is for our good
To make life full and free.
-D. De Haan