Grasping Grace

On a cold morning in January, I ask myself to grasp the grace God has given, and I come up short. How does one understand all of the grace God has poured over the former sinner? Perhaps grace does what we cannot do; that is, make us like Christ. All of my effort will not save me or make me like Jesus without grace. God knows full well my nature in this world, but through the grace earned by His Son on the cross the sinner becomes the saint. Grace may be God seeing me at the completion of His work, though the desires of the flesh still demand my attention in this world. Grace may well be thought of as God seeing me as I cannot yet.

Undeserved is the word often associated with grace for the Christian. As the Spirit of God makes me aware of sin, I can see the undeserved part too clearly. Grace is given by God because of His Son, not due to anything I've done. Grace was a decision of the Almighty based in His love for me. A love definitely above my current pay grade. Yet, Peter stated that I have been given everything I need to live a godly life. Not 'will be' given, or might be given, but have been given already in this life, all I need to live the godly life as Christ did. That gift must be grace, for at times I cannot see how anyone can get through this life without sin. Do I make excuse for myself this way? Hmm, real possibility there.

Of course, the awareness of sin, the demands of the flesh, both serve only to remind me that I cannot do it any other way than in Christ. The weapons of the adversary send me running to my Lord. A fall into sin tells me that grace is gifted to me by God, and is never something owed to me through my good behavior. The badness of me highlights the goodness of God, not so that I may sin more but rather as a promise of God's grace working in me. One day the reflection of Christ will shine forth from a sea of faces; the loving end result of God's grace.

Bucky