...but I didn't manage to board it. It speeded off before I could get to the bus stop, even though it was just at the exit of the bridge! "Lord, what are you doing..." I thought He wasn't really listening to my prayer earlier. "I asked for your grace and you gave me thiiiss?" Much on the contrary, He showed that He actually did, and was still gracious enough to grant me another bus which arrived a minute later than the first one that I missed, despite my audacious statement against Him.
Thinking back, yeah. I shouldn't have doubted the Lord when the first bus went off. Nevertheless, He still gave me the bus to travel to school in time. This part of a psalm came to mind:
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
-Psalm 103:8-13
Our Lord is a sovereign king of all eternity, and His mercy on our transgressions is all possible because of His grace on us. Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins because of God's mercy on us that we, being made in His image, should not perish but have eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Do you have a god that answers prayers? Probably yes, but not everytime. Jesus answers our prayers everytime, and is faithful to the last bit of detail of our prayers, if only we would tell Him of our needs everyday and be willing to commune with Him and bask in His presence. Is your god overbearing like Zeus, frying people he doesn't like with thunderbolts as and when he likes? Our God doesn't. If He were, we would all be dead by now, because:
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
-Romans 6:23
We are saved by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross to redeem us of our sins so that we may have eternal life in Heaven after our physical bodies die, and after our hearts stop beating. To get eternal life, you cannot earn it.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
-Ephesians 2:8
There is one thing that we gotta know about grace: it is undeserved favour from God, and unconditional, because Jesus loves us and wants to have mercy on us so that we may have eternal life with Him in Heaven, where he wants us to be. If we try to work for that eternal life, not only is it impossible, but it would also defeat the purpose of His showing of grace to us.
In fact, we can never, and should not, work for gifts - otherwise it is no longer a gift, but a reward to be deserved for all that effort. If that is so, why is it by grace then?
It is undeserved. You don't deserve it. We are unqualified for eternal life. But thank God, he is gracious enough to give it to us. Why so gracious to us when we are sinners almost beyond redemption? You know the famous verse, John 3:16?
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.It is out of his love for us. That's why.
In fact, for us Christians, we should ask for more of His grace, to keep us going everyday. Because of His grace all things are made possible, so let us all bask in His presence and ask for his precious grace, which is sufficient for every single need we have today.
No comments:
Post a Comment