Have you ever been gracious to someone else?
For instance, while out holiday shopping (and wrestling the automobile traffice everywhere you go), have you let someone trying to turn on the road from a parking lot get in front of you? That is an example of being gracious. It's polite. It's giving a gift (no matter how small). It's letting another person in line in front of you at the theater. It's giving up your aisle seat on the airplane so a couple can sit together. It's really unmerited favor. We are just being nice to someone, perhaps for the simple reason of doing a good deed for a stranger.
God is gracious to us. The gifts (large and small) that He gives us are completely unmerited. He is nice. He is loving. He is thinking about us. He's being creative in ways He can bless us. Isn't that awesome?
I was reading John chapter 8 this morning and wondering what examples of graciousness I could find there. We see mercy at the beginning, where the Pharisees try to "trap" Jesus by bringing in front of him a woman caught in the act of adultery. He showed her mercy by telling her, after all her accusers had left, that neither He will accuse her (being that He was the only One Who was qualified to condemn and stone her, since He was without sin). That's mercy. Later on in the chapter He talks about giving those who believe in Him the right to never taste death. That is grace. It is an unmerited gift that only requires belief. Belief is easy, but it's also tenacious and can be hard, difficult, and trying.
I love the Amplified Bible, and it's not because I can hear electric guitars turned up loud or anything. It's because it expounds on the words in the text, taking the Greek and Hebrew word definitions and explaining their meaning by adding synonyms. For example, in John 3:16, the text that says, "...whosoever believes in Him..." reads something like "...whosoever clings to, trusts in, and relies on Him..." Sometimes believing is clinging to Him with every ounce of strength we have.
I wonder if I could tell a Buddhist (I used to have a NSB Buddhist as a roommate) that he could still be a Buddhist and believe in Jesus...? The implication I'm wondering is, 'If this person believed in Jesus, coming to Him as a Buddhist (a sinner) and placed his faith in Him without prerequisites or conditions (such as renouncing Buddhism), if God in His graciousness and mercy would remove the shackles of that false religion later on as a part of that believer's journey and sanctification process. It's an interesting thought. Certainly we don't tell dirty people to "clean up, and then shower." In the same way, we don't force people to renounce their sin or give up their sinful lifestyle before they put their trust in Christ. We confess our sins, but most often we renounce, turn from, or "repent" of our sins after Christ comes into our hearts. I could be wrong about this, but I think it's a good question to ponder (out loud). I often find myself asking questions that relate to evangelism, because I truly want to see people come to Christ. I wish I was more active in seeing folks become born again.
I pray, "Father, please use me to bring glory to Yourself. I ask that You would give me the privilege of seeing more people born again into Your kingdom. May Your will be done. Amen."
Posted by Intern2004 at December 22, 2004 06:12 AM