More From Belinda Jo “B. J.” Mathias

A friend of mine, a Methodist pastor, spoke these words in response to an inquiry on the definition of grace.  “Grace,” he said, “is getting something we badly need but don’t deserve.”

How differently God could have responded when man chose the temptation of the serpent rather than the Father’s perfect will. God could have ended it all right then and there . . . could have snuffed out the lives God had created and started anew. But in infinite love and mercy, God chose to make a way for us erring human beings. God chose to redeem us through a long and painful path, one that led up a hill to an old rugged cross. Yet no mere human could take that path for the redemption of mankind but God’s only begotten Son, the unblemished Lamb of God. And so he did.

How amazing that God would do such a thing for us . . . even when, time and time again, we choose to go our own way.  The words of one of the most beloved of all songs, “Amazing Grace,” speaks of such a love. The song was penned by Captain John Newton, whose livelihood was largely earned through the slave trade until his heart was broken and made new by the hand of God through such amazing grace. I suspect that song may have touched more lives than any other song in all of history.

Each and every day, we begin anew the walk of faith. And by God’s provision, we are blessed to walk the walk of Christ—we receive that something we badly need . . . desperately need, but most assuredly do not deserve. Surely we can do no less than endeavor to walk in God’s perfect will every step of the way . . . by God’s amazing grace.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” — Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)