Powered by Grace
Let me paint a picture of an all-too-common cycle in my life: I stop working out
as much as I think I should, then I start letting the healthy eating habits
slide too. Now before you get the idea that I am a fitness machine, allow me to
clarify. I like to work out three times each week, and I try to eat as much junk
as healthy stuff. I have a fondness for sugar and salty crunchy things that come
in air-puffed bags...doesn't really matter what it actually is hence the generic
description. Anyway, back to the picture. I eventually slink back to the gym and
tiptoe past the door to the locker room that has the scale in it, knowing full
well that I need an accurate measure of where I'm at before real progress can be
determined. I feel much better about standing on the scale when I know I've been
being good. Can you relate?
I can see the same method being applied to my relationship with God. If I've
been reading my Bible faithfully, being extra gracious to those around me,
remembering to pray for the Pygmies and everybody else, I feel good about
approaching the throne of God. Like I'm good enough to be there. Those days that
I've been sniping at everyone, complaining, skipping the early morning
devotions, and judging instead of praying, I feel like I need to hide from Him.
Yes, I know there is no place that I am actually hiding from Him. I know that
before a word is on my lips He already knows it. And I know that I am saved by
grace, not works, and that my good to-do list is nothing but works. Not that He
doesn't want those same things for us, but play along for the sake of the
illustration.
If you have been hiding out, waiting until you get things cleaned up before you
try to hang out with Him, you should stop. Don't stop trying to clean up, but
don't wait to hang out with Jesus. According to Eric Ludy, author of The
Bravehearted Gospel, "Grace has become simply a gigantic hug from God and is no
longer the muscle of God brought to earth to aid the weakness of men (women,
too) and to give them strength."
Come to Jesus, today, and again tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after
that. Let the grace of God make a difference in your life, not just make you
feel better about your shortcomings. According to dictionary.com, grace is the
influence or spirit of God (Holy Spirit) operating in humans (us) to regenerate
or strengthen them. I have been writing about the power of the Holy Spirit at
work in my life lately, enabling me to do things I don't feel like doing, and
allowing me to dream dreams that I never would have considered. And I soon as I
start to think it is all about me deserving these things, I am, once again,
missing the point. It is about the grace of God allowing us to live in the grace
of God. Think on that for a bit. You'll get it.
Debbie Giese