black or blue?

I was in my closet fumbling around trying to find the right color socks to wear. I needed blue. Either the light was really bad in there or my eyes are just getting old because I couldn't tell. "Are these blue or black?" I thought to myself.
Ah ha! I figured out that if I hold the sock up to something that I knew was black, the true color would become more obvious to me. Sure enough, my socks which looked black to my naked eye were in fact blue when compared to my black-ish shoes. (By the way, since we're dealing with socks here...I've recently converted to the knee-high dress sock. I am convinced there is nothing more comfortable. You don't have to mess with pulling up your socks every 5 minutes, and they are just so comfortable it's crazy. They cost a little more $$, but I think it is well worth it. When it's cold outside, it's like a little more insulation. The guy at Joyner Fry says that's all he wears...
SO here comes the parallel...Often times I think, "Hey, you're not such a bad guy after all, Justin. You've got your life pretty well together." The problem with this attitude is that I forget how miserably rotten I am. When you hold me up against somthing that's perfect (kinda like the blue sock against the black)--- like Christ--- I see the real me. Apart from the Lord, I'm a depraved and destitute man. Nothing about me is good or acceptable or likeable. My life and all that I have pales in comparison to the perfection of Christ. He is pure and lovely. He is spotless. He's majestic and mighty. He is full of grace and truth. He is humble and meek. And by trusting in Him, He transfers His righteouness to me. He takes my life, broken as it may be, and fixes it. He makes something out of nothing. As David said, He is the one "Who forgives all [my] iniquities, who heals all [my] diseases, who redeems [my] life from destruction, who crowns [me] with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies [my] mouth with good things, so that [my] youth is renewed like the eagle's".
Wow, that's something to be thankful for!