Squandering Grace

 

In God’s grace:

• Noah was saved from the flood (Genesis 6:8)
• Moses’ prayer was answered for the Lord’s Presence to go with the Israelites. (Exodus 33:17).
• He promises to be a sun and shield and withhold no good thing from the upright (Psalm 84:11).
• He gave us Jesus who was full of grace and truth (John 1:14, 17).
• He gave the Apostles the ability to be great witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:33).
• We are justified freely through Christ’s redemption (Romans 3:24).
• We are saved by faith and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-10).
• He left us His word to see how often He offers His grace.

God’s mercies were poured out on His people Israel over and over again. He is truly a patient and persistent God with His people in whom He is at work (Psalm 103:8).

There is a more “common grace” that benefits everyone; the sun shines, the rain rains, the crops grow, medicines work, etc. The grace of God is evident even in the creation that provides beauty, shelter and food.

However, it seems that much of God’s grace has been squandered by us over the years of the history of our nation and the Church in our nation. Several places in the scriptures command us to proclaim or to tell of His wondrous works and the things He has done. These verses tell us to speak of salvation in Christ, and praise Him for calling us out of darkness and into the Light (1 Chronicles 16:23, 1 Peter 2:9).

We have been told to teach the next generation about His Law and His ways (Deuteronomy 6:6-8). We are to resist evil (James 4:7) and even expose it (Ephesians 5:11). We are to have no idols (1 Corinthians 10:14), fleeing from them, from sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18), and youthful lusts (2 Timothy 2:22). Instead we are to pursue righteousness as it is described in Deuteronomy 6:25, “And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.”

When we fail to obey God’s law, to speak of His goodness, to call out sin and evil in our camp, we are squandering the grace God has granted us. He is worthy of our obedience to His Law as well as to hear our words of glory and honor and praise.  But, too often what we offer is  scraps on Sunday morning.

Obedience and glory, honor and praise to God should be evident in every sphere in which we have an inkling of influence. His word should be so infused in our hearts that they just come out of our mouths without a lot of thought or effort.

Sadly, the grace of God, it seems, has been squandered for comfort. The harder the culture stands against us, the more we retreat. Think about that:  We squander God’s grace in order to be comfortable around those opposed to Him!  Christian brothers and sisters, this is not a time for retreat. This is a time for us to show the work of the Holy Spirit and the righteousness of God with boldness, courage and strength (Joshua 1:7; Acts 4:31).

Let’s not squander any more of His grace by not responding to life events in the fear of man but for the  praise, glorify and honor of our gracious God