Taking Grace for Granted

As God's co-workers, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. -2 Cor 6:1 (NIV)

Paul reminds those who have heard the good news of God's love and grace that their lives should reflect that love and grace. It should change the way they live...it should change the way they react and respond to the world around them. They cannot, according to Paul, receive this good news and do nothing with it or not allow it to change their lives.

I am often guilty of taking God's grace for granted. I know that I don't deserve it. I realize that, if I had to earn God's love, I would fall short every single time. But I also know that I don't always allow God's grace to change the way I treat or respond to others. What if God forgave me only inasmuch as I forgave others? What if God's love were conditionally based on my love for God?

Today, I want to be more mindful that I am most unworthy of God's grace and yet it has been extended to me nonetheless. I don't want to take this grace for granted or receive it in vain. And I want to extend that grace to others, even (especially) when others don't deserve it.

May God grant you the grace to not take grace for granted or receive it in vain. And may you who have received grace upon grace extend it to others today.


Tomorrow's readings are 1 Samuel 1-2, Psalm 66, and 2 Corinthians 7.

If you're in the Fayetteville, TN area tonight, please join us for our Maundy Thursday service at 7 pm in our church sanctuary. The church is located at 200 North Elk Avenue.