What do we find when we reach down deep?

A recent Mr. Standfast post reveals very concisely the emptiness in the popular notions of being strong, struggling on to victory, rising above, etc:

Yesterday I heard a television preacher say, "You have to reach down into yourself . . ." He was talking about winning "the victory" over something, I don't even remember what for sure. All I know is he is not correct. When I reach down into myself I only find . . . myself. Which is never enough, I'm afraid. Never strong enough. Never clean enough.

At the center of Christian discipleship is an acknowledgment that we are not able to achieve anything that really matters on our own. We are not strong enough in ourselves to overcome sin and weakness, to save ourselves from death, to attain eternal life or an inheritance in God's kingdom. That's why we need not just a teacher or guide but a Savior in Jesus Christ. Without him, we're lost. Here's Bob again:

I too am the sheep who went astray. I followed my instincts, which seemed right in my own eyes. For a while the grass was green and good, but in the end I came to place of barrenness and darkness, and the wolves surrounded me, and truly I was as good as dead. I cried out at last for my shepherd, though in that moment he seemed so far away. Then all at once my shepherd was there. He leaped into the midst of the pack, brandishing his flaming brand in the faces of the panic-stricken wolves, scattering them. Quickly he hoisted me to his shoulders and carried me home. He saved me when I could not save myself.

Amen.