Paul held the nation of Israel’s people in his
heart. He wanted more than anything to
see them turn to God by faith, which is God’s way. Indeed, Scripture informs us that there is no
other way.
God saved you by his
grace when you believed. And you can’t
take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is
not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about
it. Ephesians 2:8-9
Unfortunately, for Israel, and for many people today,
the concept of earning God’s approval is ingrained. So many people, especially those who’ve
hardly ever, if ever, read the Bible, misunderstand the way of grace…we don’t
earn our way into Heaven, or God’s favor…God brings us there by His Spirit when
we trust Him.
Our Son-in-love, Ken, shared an experience with me he
had this month with a fellow he met on the golf course. When you go to the golf course alone, they
will often place you with others who come by themselves. This new acquaintence brought his own stash
of refreshments; by the 5th hole, he was quite intoxicated.
Drunk and swinging a golf club rarely do well
together. Doing poorly at something and inebriation
also bring out unpleasantness (to say the least). The guy swore loudly, and usually after every
shot. By the time the round of golf was
half over, the man lost it altogether, becoming emotionally undone, at one
point sobbing like a wounded elephant. As
they began the second half of the round he walked up to Ken and apologized for
his behavior. Ken looked at the man and
said: “Can I pray for you right now?” The man looked at Ken as if he’d been shot – “Aw…no,
you don’t want to do that…I’m drunk”.
After a few minutes of talking to him, Ken found out the man did believe
in Christ, but was embarrassed, and didn’t want to pray in this
condition. But he conceded,
and Ken prayed for him.
The key connection with this condition
and Paul’s reminder of losing the thought of earning your way
into God’s friendship, is that the man knew he wasn’t
acting right. He imagined he had to get
better, conquer his alcoholic tendencies, and get his life just right before
God would love him. The problem was he
just couldn’t seem to grasp that he’d never done that before…and all attempts
were futile…there was no power in his personal arsenal of controlling his life
and impulses. He remained Godless.
Ken may never see this man again, but the unexpected
offer of prayer to a man who felt totally worthless will stay in his memory. And that will bring him closer to
understanding he will never earn his place with God…it
will be grace or nothing.
For You Today
If you’ve labored under the mistaken idea
that being a witness for Christ means memorizing 12 Scripture verses, and a 5
bullet-point presentation to bring a stranger into the Kingdom, let Ken’s
simple question find its’ way into your daily life. When encountering someone who’s suffering,
being obedient to Jesus’ call to witness can be found in that simple question…Can
I pray for you….right now?
There are about 2,000 devotional
posts in the Rocky Road Devotions library.
To
dig deeper into today’s topic or Scripture text: So...Which Came First? and Lost Sheep
[1] Images: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
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