BIBLE PASSAGE:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God
(Ephesians 2:8)
MEDITATION:
We all enjoy receiving gifts, right? However, when we are given gifts,
we have to make a decision of how we will respond to the gift, don’t
we? If we don’t like the gift, then we have to figure out a way to hide
our disappointment. Conversely, if we like the gift, then we want to
make sure we communicate our appreciation and delight for the gift.
There is a lot of pressure whenever we receive a gift. However,
when we give someone a gift, the pressure is on them to hide
their disappointment, or adequately express their appreciation.
God gave us an unbelievable gift, so the pressure is on us. He gave it
to us out of His grace. The dictionary, defines ‘grace’ as ‘unmerited
favor of God toward mankind’. It means that we did nothing to earn
what God has given us. Grace is not something to be bought; it is a
free gift from God to mankind.
It is hard for us to understand this kind of grace, isn’t it? Why is it so hard?
Because we have a natural tendency to believe that there should be an equal
return for any favors received. In other words, we either want to feel that we
earned His gift, or we need to give Him something of equal value in return.
We have to get outside the boundaries of human reasoning in order to
fully accept the magnitude of God’s grace. God said,
“For I am God, and not a man – the Holy One among you.”
(Hosea 11:9b)
It is difficult for us to understand how God could love us so much that He
would choose to give us something that we failed to earn. God tells us not
to rely on our own understanding.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding”
(Proverbs 3:5)
There are some things that defy human reasoning. So the question is,
“How do we express our gratitude to God
for the exceptional gift He gave us?”
First of all, we accept His gift.
If we don’t receive His gift then we have no reason to show our appreciation.
Receiving His gift means we believe that He is God and His Word is true.
We could spend an excessive amount of time trying to understand God’s
rationale for His salvation plan; but instead, we need to accept it through
faith and trust in God and His promises.
Secondly, we love Him back!
We cannot match His gift to us, but we know He gave it to us out of love, and
we all have the capacity to love. Love is something that we can (and should)
give back to Him. We might ask ourselves how we can give love to God. We
find the answer in these words from Jesus:
“If you love me, keep my commands.”
(John 14:15)
Thirdly, we express our faith.
Our faith is based on our belief that He is God (the only god), that His word
is true, that His love was shown through the crucifixion of Jesus for what we
deserved, that Jesus was resurrected on the third day, that His death covered
our sins (which makes us appear righteous in the sight of God), and that when
we receive His gift, we will ultimately spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
True faith means being close to God and trusting Him.
“But you must return to your God; Maintain
love and justice, and wait for your God always.”
(Hosea 12:6)
We are not told to be idle, but we are told to wait (expectantly). When
we do that, we are showing our trust in Him (which is faith expressed)!
ACTION:
You might be someone who has not known about or received God’s salvation.
Or, you might be someone who has heard about God’s ‘gift’ many times. But
no matter where we are, we need to consider how God’s gift has impacted our
own life. Have we ‘fully’ accepted His gift of grace? Have we thanked Him for
His gift? Do we thank Him often for what He has given us? How much have we
allowed the Holy Spirit to be a part of our lives?
I know there are times when I have prayed,
“God, I wish that there was a different salvation plan
where Jesus didn’t have to be crucified. However,
that was Your plan and I accept it and I thank You
Jesus for making the ultimate sacrifice for my sins
so that one day I can be with You in paradise”.
Do you feel the same way? Do you wish that we could be saved without
the requirement of Jesus’ death? Can you imagine the thoughts Jesus
must have had the night before He was to be crucified? As God’s Son,
Jesus knew the amount of excruciating pain and agony He would be
suffering on the cross. However, He said, “Not as I will, but as You will”.
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup
from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
(Luke 22:42)
When Jesus was obedient to the will of His (and our) Father, He taught
us the importance of obedience in our own lives. If we are honest with
ourselves, we KNOW there are some things that we want to do which
cause us to be disobedient to God, wouldn’t you agree?
Some of the things we want to do can be overwhelmingly attractive and
stir the lusts within us. We know they are not pleasing to God and yet we
succumb to them anyway. It is frustrating when we realize that Satan can
use some things to control us and cause us to become disobedient and rebel
against God’s guidelines for righteous living.
But the good news is, we are reminded of our weaknesses and our need
for God’s help in overcoming these challenges. God knows that, so He
also gave us the free gift of the Holy Spirit when we received salvation.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in my name, will teach you all things and
will remind you of everything I have said to you.
(John 14:26)
The Holy Spirit is an important gift of grace from our Heavenly Father.
When we accept and invite Him into our lives, we have an Advocate who
can not only stand between our sinful lusts and us, but He can also guide
us toward righteous living as God sanctifies us (which is His process of
purging unrighteousness from our lives).
In addition, the Holy Spirit can turn our ‘groanings’ into ‘prayers’
when we have deep concerns we want to pray about, but struggle
expressing them to our Heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit has the
ability to read our hearts and articulate our feelings when we can’t.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the
Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
(Romans 8:26)
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your gift of grace to mankind.
I ask You to help me develop a more full and abundant awareness
of Your bountiful grace. I could never give You an equal gift in
return, but I can love You, and I do. Although I cannot earn Your
gift, I can prove my gratefulness by serving you in whatever way
You want me to serve. You have given me spiritual gifts – help me
to use them to point others to Your Son, Jesus.”
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