No Gift We Have Not Been GivenSample

Lavished

I once visited a man who was dying of cancer at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He was in his early fifties and had been an Olympic runner. At one point, he said to me, “I’ll shoot straight with you. I’m afraid to die.”

I appreciated his honesty and vulnerability. I gently asked, “Bob, are you ready to meet God?”

He replied, “Yes. I’ve asked forgiveness from Jesus. But I’m worried whether I’ve been good enough.”

Then I explained to him, “No one is good enough. That’s why we need grace. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, and we trust him to save us. It’s all about grace, Bob.”

The gospel is the message of grace. The Bible is the book of grace. God is the God of grace. Jesus Christ is all about grace.

Grace is the theme of the Bible. Our faith begins with grace, it is built on grace, it crescendos with grace.

Grace means God has forgiven you and given you eternal life. If it’s eternal, then it can never end. You are secure and safe in God’s grace.

Grace means the pressure is off. It’s like the football kicker who kicks the last-second field goal. The pressure is now off. You can laugh, dance, and sing.

The writer and counselor David Seamands expressed in Healing for Damaged Emotions his deep conviction about grace:

Many years ago I was driven to the conclusion that the two major causes of most emotional problems among evangelical Christians are these: the failure to understand, receive and live out God’s unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace to other people…We read, we hear, we believe a good theology of grace. But that’s not the way we live. The good news of the gospel of grace has not penetrated the level of our emotions.

God has lavished his grace upon us. Enjoy it, revel in it, rest in it. It’s all about grace.

Paul, the writer of Ephesians, was a champion of grace. Be a champion of grace in your world.