Living in the Resurrection: Approved

by Bryan+ Patrick 

Something I need not constantly seek;
Nor to merit or strive to keep.
I have it not because of what I did or have done;
I am on my best days and those when my good deeds number not one.

Oh that I could walk in it day by day;
Although I never lose it, often from this truth I stray.
Trying to earn what cannot be bought;
Worrying about what others think and whether from them I have it or not.

Shackles that on myself I place;
Chains that restrain me from seeing your face.
But turning, at last I see your smile;
It never wavered even in the midst of this latest trial.

Resting in it, only then am I free;
In it there is peace, complete security.
There I have life;
My heart can be quiet; ceased is internal strife.

But how can this be?
Behind what Door is this great gift; who holds the key?
The truth—I am; because of your Son;
The truth—I am; not through what I did, but because of what He has done.

“It is finished.”  He cried;
In that moment, He died.
Surrendering His life to you my heavenly Father;
Paying the price for which I had nothing to offer.

My sin, my failings, my stain;
His Blood covering your righteous disdain.
The wrath that I deserved became His pain;
Only because of His great love, APPROVED I will for all eternity remain.

Bryan+ Patrick, is a priest in the AMiA and Senior Counsel for Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP who lives in Temple, Texas, with his wife, Lynsey, and their four children.