The Love of God - the Plumb LineSample

The extent of God's love.

As we saw in yesterday's devotional, sin entered humans through one senseless act of disobedience. We feel like asking God why He gave Adam and Eve a choice. Why did that second tree need to be there? For love to be genuine, it requires a choice. We must choose to love God. The freedom to choose brings responsibility with it. Love is demonstrated in action, not just thoughts. Love is a verb, a doing word.

Just as sin came to humans through one act of disobedience, salvation came through the obedience of the perfect son of Adam, Jesus. He paid for all our sins that we could never pay for. Jesus showed us mercy on the Cross. He took our sin upon Himself and thereby did not give us the punishment we deserved. He could have stopped there, but then He lavishes us with His Grace. He gives us grace that we do not deserve.

From here on, the goal of our faith is to become more and more like Jesus which is, to be restored to our complete identity as sons and daughters which is what was given to Adam and Eve. They were the perfect representation of everything God wanted us to be. He still wants that for us. Not only that, but He has also blessed us with all the spiritual blessings in Christ. If we remain in Him, Jesus tells us that we will bear much fruit that will last. This is amazing grace!

We cannot fully appreciate grace until we understand His rich mercy. Ask the Holy Spirit to refresh your understanding of this truth again so you can worship Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. The woman who anointed Jesus understood this; that is why Jesus said of her, “The one who is forgiven much loves much”. She understood the depth of what Jesus did for her.

So, this is another plumb-line truth to remind yourself of, that all the benefits we enjoy in the love of God are a grace gift! We must remind ourselves that we need the Holy Spirit to live a grace-empowered life, or we will try and work out our sanctification in the flesh.

REFLECTION

Don’t ever take the mercy and grace of God for granted. It came to you at a high price. Now live your life worthy of the sacrifice Jesus made for you.

Have there been times in your life when you took grace for granted? Come back to the plumb line of gratitude for the grace of God.

Have you moved away from grace, and are you trying to work out your sanctification on your own? Come back to a place of surrender and allow the Holy Spirit to empower you to live a life worthy of the calling of Jesus.