On a recent camping trip, we had one full day of rain. Twenty-three hours in a tent went faster than we had expected since we had taken books to read, crossword puzzles to do, and a Boggle game. But at supper time we needed more room and a table to cook on, so we carried our food and our propane stove under the shelter of an umbrella through the steady drizzle and down to the pavilion in that State Park to prepare our meal.
A nine year old girl pulled her bike into the shelter as the rain picked up. She talked for a few minutes, and then we asked her name.
“Grace,” she replied.
“”Hmmm,” began Keith, “that means full of mercy and compassion. Is that you?”
She gave a wry grin beyond her years and said, “I don’t think so.”
We talked awhile longer, and then she politely excused herself. Later I thought, “How incredibly honest.” Could I look at myself and give such an assessment without making qualifications and rationalizations? I doubt it. And woe to anyone who tries to do it for me. No grace to him!
But here is the irony—as an innocent child, this little girl Grace is a whole lot closer to the ideal of grace than I am. Yet as a child of the God who gives grace abundantly, I must strive the harder to emulate my Heavenly Father, giving grace to all I meet just as He does for us—even though, as the very definition of the word states, we do not deserve it.
Today let us all remember to be as generous as our Father, giving grace where none is due.
By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Eph 2:8
Above all things be fervent in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins…minister among yourselves as good stewards of the grace of God. I Pet 4:8, 10
A nine year old girl pulled her bike into the shelter as the rain picked up. She talked for a few minutes, and then we asked her name.
“Grace,” she replied.
“”Hmmm,” began Keith, “that means full of mercy and compassion. Is that you?”
She gave a wry grin beyond her years and said, “I don’t think so.”
We talked awhile longer, and then she politely excused herself. Later I thought, “How incredibly honest.” Could I look at myself and give such an assessment without making qualifications and rationalizations? I doubt it. And woe to anyone who tries to do it for me. No grace to him!
But here is the irony—as an innocent child, this little girl Grace is a whole lot closer to the ideal of grace than I am. Yet as a child of the God who gives grace abundantly, I must strive the harder to emulate my Heavenly Father, giving grace to all I meet just as He does for us—even though, as the very definition of the word states, we do not deserve it.
Today let us all remember to be as generous as our Father, giving grace where none is due.
By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Eph 2:8
Above all things be fervent in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins…minister among yourselves as good stewards of the grace of God. I Pet 4:8, 10
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