Today's Readings - Jeremiah 17-18, Ephesians 2, Psalm 113, Proverbs 24:21–22
Devotional
It would be comforting to know someone who was immensely wealthy - and generous. I wouldn't have to worry about mortgages, student loans, credit cards, medical bills or anything else. If I had a problem, my wealthy and generous friend could take care of it. I wouldn't have to worry about what I didn't have; I could rely on what he did have.
I have a wealthy and generous companion, except, in Ephesians 2:7 it is not money or power that comprises his wealth, but grace. In Christ (there's that phrase again) he demonstrates to us the "immeasurable riches of his grace."
And its a good thing that God is rich in grace, because that is exactly what we need. Ephesians 2:1-3 described our natural condition as humans. It's not a pretty picture.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously lived according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.
Sin rendered us spiritually dead - that is serious, wouldn't you say? Because of our inborn sin we tend to follow the ways of world, going along with what everyone else is doing. We are subject to that deceptive spirit that is rooted in the work of Satan himself and enslaves humanity. Like the first human pair, we choose what is wrong based on those lies and mess our lives up royally. Instead of living according to the righteousness of God, we follow the desires of our minds and bodies. The horrible result of that is found in verse 3 - we were "children of wrath" - awaiting the awful day when we would receive the just reward for our sinfulness.
Not a pretty picture, is it?
But verse 4 has the two most important words in the Bible. "But God." God interfered to stop the victory of sin. He intervened to change the course of history. He did not leave us as we were, but went to war against the sin that had separated us from him. By sending his Son to die on the cross for our sins, God poured out the riches of his grace if full and unstinting measure. He didn't just give us a little grace. He didn't just give us a lot of grace. He lavished the riches of his grace on us, pouring it out in full measure.
We didn't get a garden hose of grace, we got the firehose. No, we got Niagara Falls!
Verses 8 and 9 sum it all up in a very familiar way.
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.
There is no room for me to boast. All I contributed was my sin, my failure, my depravity. God did everything else. It is all by grace without any mixture of my own works. What an amazing salvation we have been given by the riches of God's grace.
We are the workmanship of the master craftsman, who builds us by his grace so that we might be ready to do the good works he has prepared us to do. From start to finish, it is all by God's grace - his immeasurable riches of grace.
Father, I thank you that my life, my hope, my future does not depend on my own abilities or my own goodness. I rejoice that I am bathed in your immeasurable grace.
Think and Pray
Rejoice today that God has interfered in your life with his grace!
Have you ever heard someone say, "But for the grace of God...." Think for a moment where you might be if God had not intervened, if he had not poured out his grace.
Thank God for all he has done for you.
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