Grace

Grace In Action

photo credit: Anna Earl, girl in blue top planting outdoors, photograph, South Bend, IN. https://unsplash.com/photos/ZbuP5oXM_zA

I (Josh) came across a fun new article from my hometown area of Philadelphia, PA.  Not a lot of positive news comes out of the “City of Brotherly Love” and so when something like this comes out, it catches my eye.  Do me a favor and click over HERE and read this story.  Then come back to this blog post for a bit of reflection.

I was struck by the love these Fathers showed the kids entering the school.  Specifically, I thought of little Ian who may or may not have a positive male role model in his life.  It seems that he does not.  Ian was terrified of this new school experience (sound familiar?) and I am sure when he came upon the school and saw a red carpet and a bunch of cheering men, he felt just a little intimidated and like he didn't belong.  However, Ian was exactly where he needed to be and these Father’s made sure Ian felt accepted and encouraged. 

This got me to thinking about our journey as Christians.  When God's grace hits us and we discover our sin nature and our total inability to save ourselves, we feel a bit like Ian, don't we?  We are scared and feel lost.  We come face to face with a challenge and realize that we can't handle it.  And then we turn the corner and come face to face with our Heavenly Father.  And I picture our Father in Heaven like those Dad's that day that Ian came face to face with.  Full of love and acceptance and Ian didn't even know who they were.  But that didn't matter.  Likewise, when we come face to face with our Father in Heaven, we don't know who He is because of our sin.  And yet He overwhelms us with love and acceptance.  This is grace! 

Take a moment and read the following passages of scripture.  Do me a favor and comment on this post your reflection to the news story about Ian, your reading of scripture, and if this is a good picture of God’s grace in our lives.  As always, let us know if you have any questions we can wrestle through with you.

Scripture to read: Ephesians 1:3-10; Romans 5:1-11