Today's Scripture:
Ephesians 2:8, 9
For it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of
God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
Today's Thought:
Who doesn't love getting gifts? And that is exactly how Paul describes our
salvation - a gift. An unmerited, free
gift that none of us earned and none of us could ever earn. The only hope we had for a relationship with
God rested solely on God's graciousness. Paul knows this as good as anyone,
doesn’t he? As a murderer of Christians
Paul was well aware that he could never make reparations for the sins that he
had committed. Paul appreciated grace
because he knew that was his only hope.
Do you appreciate grace?
One reason we may not is that we minimize the severity of our sins. Many of us struggle with socially acceptable
sins, not murder! That may be true but
we need to realize that socially acceptable sins are not spiritually acceptable
sins. In contrast to the holy God every
sin is "as scarlet." Every
evil thought. Every angry outburst. Every lustful look. Every selfish action.
Today let's remind ourselves that we are all in the same
boat - we all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory - and all of us are hopeless
without God's graciousness. He has given us a gift we have not earned. A gift we could not earn.
Today's Prayer:
Gracious God, let us call to mind the ugliness
of every sin, especially those we often overlook. Help us to see ourselves as totally lost,
doomed for destruction, on a straight path to everlasting death - until you
saved us. Wash over us the joy of
salvation. Fill us with an unprecedented
appreciation for the gift of salvation.
We give you thanks for our Savior, Jesus Christ, who bore our sins and
earned for us a good standing with you.
In his saving name we pray. Amen
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