A Very Merry COVID ChristmasSample

Praise God—You Are Graced

“I’ve been waiting to see you,” the woman whispered as we both waited for the conference speaker to begin his presentation. “Do you remember 11 months ago when I was such a gossip?”

I searched my brain for an answer to her question. Yes, I remembered her. Yes, I remembered that we first met about a year ago. But, no, I didn’t remember any type of gossip that she had indulged in.

Sin is weird that way; isn’t it? There are some things that we do that stick with us for months, if not more; transgressions that we haul around through life like a gravel-filled backpack.

This is why I adore grace, that one-way love that God gives to us even when we have no right to receive it. The apostle Paul, in the middle of his marathon sentence in Ephesians, wrote of God’s “glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves” (1:6).

Let your soul marinate in the flavors of that stunning verse.

“Glorious”—Grace is glorious. It’s not just okay or so-so or run-of-the-mill or heard-that-before. Rather, grace makes you say, “Wow!” It’s like the Grand Canyon, an experience that commands an emotional response. When you see grace, you say, like the song says, “Amazing!”

Or consider the phrase “freely given”—Grace is like the toothpick samples of Chinese food in the mall food court. They’re simply given to you for free. No charge. No fee. No checking IDs. Just, “Here. This is for you.” Actually, scratch that—Grace is more like a restaurant giving an unlimited entree away for free, loading up your plate with more than you could ever consume. Grace always scoops up more love than we could ever need.

Or contemplate the little word “us”—Grace is freely given us. The Ephesians, if you don’t know the history, were not famous for being fine Christian people. They were the proud supporters of Artemis, the fertility goddess of the Ephesians, an idol so adored that the entire city rioted when Paul claimed she was a fake. As part of their “worship” of the goddess, many of the Ephesians had crossed God’s lines for sexuality countlessly, a past that could have haunted them after their conversions. But then grace was given to “us.” That glorious grace was the detergent that scrubbed out the dirtiness of their past. All of it. All of yours too.

Finally, notice that all of this grace is given us “in the One he loves”—Everything you just read is yours through Jesus, the beloved Son of our heavenly Father. Because of Jesus, there is love that is always yours. Because of Jesus, that love is so wide and deep and high that you’ll never grasp 1% of it, but even that tiny glimpse is good enough to make you rejoice. Because of Jesus, that love isn’t just for “those people” but for people just like you.

If I had to choose between a COVID-free or a grace-filled world, I know what I would choose.

Thankfully, God has given us that very thing.