Mid Afternoon: Costly Grace

by Hillary Mortensen

Earlier I asked you to meditate on the awesomeness of grace, a gift of God's favor that is free to us, should we so choose to accept it.

Let us caution, though, to consider how costly grace was to God. It was the price of the atoning death of His Son. In Romans, Chapter 3, this is explained:

Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard, and all need to be made right with God by His grace, which is free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. God sent Him to die in our place to take away our sins. We receive forgiveness through faith in the blood of Jesus' death. (3:23-25)

Sin is falling short of God's glorious standard. And let's face it: We're all sinners. This sin keeps us from being in relationship with God and experiencing His love for us, but, praise be to God, Jesus died for our sins...and rose again to show us that He is God and that He has power and victory over death. To reiterate:

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior was shown, He saved us because of His mercy. It was not because of good deeds we did to be right with Him. He saved us through the washing that made us new people through the Holy Spirit. God poured out richly upon us that Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Savior. Being made right with God by His grace, we could have the hope of receiving the life that never ends. (Titus 3:4-7)

Earlier I asked you to think of evidence of God's grace in your life. Now I urge you to consider whether you have truly accepted God's greatest gift, the one of everlasting life through Jesus Christ. (It can't be accepted any other way.) If not, don't miss out on God's greatest gift. While God has given you this gift of life, it doesn't become yours until you accept it. Acknowledge that you need to Jesus be the Lord and Savior of your life, that you know you can't be in right relationship with God without His blood covering your sin. Then, not only in intellectual agreement, but also as an act of faith, make Christ Lord of your life and ask Him to make you the kind of person He wants you to be. (Click here if you want more details on making this important decision.)

If you have accepted God's gift of grace and you already know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, don't take grace for granted, as I know I myself am so often guilty of doing. Do you know the riches of God's grace, which He gives to us fully and freely? (See Ephesians 1:7,8) Can you say with the Apostle Paul, "God's grace has made me what I am"? (See 1 Corinthians 15:10)

J.I. Packer in his book Knowing God asks, "Do you claim to know the love and grace of God in your own life? Prove your claim, then, by going and praying likewise."

Let us pray this classic hymn as we cry out to God.