A Devastating Lack
Published 05/04/2010
- 7:36 a.m. CST
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Imagine waking up this morning (shouldn’t be too hard to do). You stumble around for coffee then pull up your laptop to check out the morning news. You get to the homepage of the New Jerusalem Times and there in big, bold letters is the headline, “GRACE SHORTAGE!”
The story says that Christians should ration. There’s a widespread lack. You stagger a bit. What does this mean for me? you think.
Without grace, we stay the same. Without this divine power at work within us, we embrace our tepid and selfish desires. Without this unmerited favor He pours out on us, we falter and stumble.
I don’t know about you, but I have operated in a grace shortage before, but it wasn’t God’s fault. It was all mine.
- Grace is a gift. Gifts can be received or rejected. Ephesians 2:8, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God…”
- Grace enables. It enhances and bridges the gap. Grace emboldens and enlivens. Grace goes beyond the natural limitations. 1 Peter 1:13, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
- Grace transforms. It doesn’t make excuses for our immorality, apathy, or laziness. It doesn’t embrace our sin and depravity. Grace makes it possible to live differently, but we have to choose it. 2 Timothy 1:8-10, “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time…”
- Grace is available. Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Too many times we speak of grace, but live as if we don’t have any. We lean on glorified (or not) self-help or become complacent in our walk with God. This is why for several weeks now, I have been uttering a two word prayer constantly: more grace.
I don’t want to be the same anymore. I want renewal and revival. I want to embrace God and not a friendship with the world. All this is talked about in James 4 then it says, “…the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace…”
God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. For all the reasons I listed above and even more that I can’t fully comprehend, I need grace. The lack of this makes for a devastating limitation that wholly unnecessary.
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