Yesterday, I introduced the idea of grace with a diagram. We will build on that now, so if you missed it, go back and watch Tuesday’s content.
Grace is the most powerful force in the world, it is what makes Christian faith stand out like a jewel—the world craves it—people are so hungry for grace, often desperate for grace—and grace is there for all people.
Imagine grace in Syria, imagine grace in Iraq, imagine grace in a time of marriage breakdown, in your workplace. Just imagine grace everywhere…grace says there is nothing I can do to make God love me more, there is nothing I can do to make God love me less…how would that change the way people act in our world?
Imagine grace in your life…a fresh start, forgiveness, a relationship with God, and hope for the future. A certain way of life, of obedience to God’s way of living is an important part of this, but as outcome, the thanksgiving for God’s love, rather than a way of earning it in the first place.
We’re invited to practice living in God’s kingdom now. This affects many areas of our lives. It reorders our priorities, views of success, sex and marriage, money and possessions, and the poor. That is a big, loaded list.
From the outside, although it looks strange and different, those who practice living God’s kingdom here and now in these ways find that it’s exactly what they were created for – that they’re living according to the script written for their lives and their world, and it’s a natural fit like none other, even though it’s new and different.
We all want to be free, and so sometimes when we hear about laws, living a certain way, we think someone is trying to control or take away our freedom. But imagine a train, that gets bored running up and down its tracks, and looks at countryside, longing to be “free” of the rails. If it does hop the rails, it will meet with disaster and destruction, not happiness and freedom. A train is not designed for fields, but designed for tracks. A train is never more free than doing what it was designed to do…run on tracks.
It’s the same with humans, we’re designed by creator with a specific way of life. For best results, follow maker’s instructions.”
Question: Have you ever gone off the rails in life, thinking you were enjoying your freedom? What helped you get back on track?
Reminder: Earlier in this series, we saw the importance of reading the Bible together in sync, so our new daily bible readings start today in our mobile app and web site.
Read the Bible in Sync Today
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On the news last week, we heard about how no one wants the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the deceased suspect in the Boston Marathon Bombings.
No cemetery seems to want the body, and the funeral director is under attack for his involvement.
You can hear the anger in people’s voices. They cannot forgive this man for trying to kill them, their friends, their families. One man said, “dump him off a boat like Bin Laden”.
Maybe it would be different if he was alive, and people could tell him off, see him stand trial, explain his deeds, and see him convicted and put away. But they can’t – he’s dead, and so they can only try to deny him a proper burial – many seem unable to forgive this man.
A few columns and blogs here and there have spoken of forgiveness. You can tell it’s hard – more often than not you can tell they wish they could hate, but are held back by something, someone, who compels them to go against their baser instincts and forgive someone who they want to hate.
Question: Can you forgive someone who won’t apologize, or forgive you? Why or why not?
One example of a blog advocating forgiveness: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-martha-r-jacobs/is-a-person-bad-or-does-a-person-choose-to-do-bad-things_b_3200740.html
