Daily Nuggets of Grace Part 1 Free!Muestra

A Debt We Could Not Pay

Congratulations on embarking on a journey to grow in grace! Yesterday, we learned that God wants us to dive deep into the sparkling waters of grace, to rise into our new identity in Christ, where we find life to the fullest!

I was seven when I decided it was time to teach my family a good lesson about a perceived injustice, so I ran away from home. I headed off, clutching a pillow, a whole loaf of bread, and a glass of water. By the end of our long driveway, so much water had spilled that my glass was nearly empty. I crouched behind a bush and waited for my family to come with sorrow and apologize. You guessed it. They never came. I became hot, thirsty, and bored, so I went back home. I doubt anyone even knew I had left!

It is only possible to grasp what a gift grace is if we comprehend why we need it. Whether you identify more with the wild living exemplified by the younger brother in Luke 15 or my childish rebellion and resentment, the fact is that we all have sinned and gone our own way. Romans 6:23 says that the payment required for our wrongs is death and spiritual separation from God.

However, in perfect love, Christ, the perfect sacrifice, crossed galaxies to find and save you and me. He willingly died a death that we deserve. In doing so, he offers us the free access code to live forever with Himself. Jesus was pierced so we could be forgiven. He was wounded so we could be healed. He entered the chaos so we could have peace. He died so we can fully live.

In Jesus, we gain abundant life with God here on earth and the promise of heaven when we die. Putting faith in Christ and his death alone is the only way to reach God. When we do that, we also gain daily access to His amazing grace.

Reflect and Respond

In what ways have you willfully gone your own way? How have you turned your back on God and followed your own desires? Be specific. Confess these to God and accept His forgiveness in Jesus today.

Pray

God, forgive me for running away from you and forfeiting the grace that could have been mine. I embrace Your unconditional love, which finds me and invites me home to live with you forever. I accept and trust in your free, undeserved gift! Thank you.