“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8 KJV).
When I first met my nurse, I decided to give her a gift sometime. I soon knew, too, it would be that red soup mug I had seen in a catalog. But as the time drew near to give her the gift I had ordered, I started to chicken out.
“What if she refuses my gift? What if she wonders what would compel a mere acquaintance to give her something? What if she hates soup?” I stuffed the box back into my closet; it was safer to chicken out.
Wait! If the box fit in my little backpack, I could decide what to do when I saw her next. That way I could still chicken out and she would never know.
Since the box fit, I took the soup mug along and ended up giving her the gift. The whole thing seems silly now; why had I almost chickened out?
We take a risk when we offer someone a gift. The person might refuse it, hate it, or get the wrong idea about the giver of the gift.
God’s grace is also a gift. He offers it to anyone who believes, who sees a need for His unmerited favor. Some refuse it; others try to earn the gift. But the very essence of a gift is that it’s free.
And when we ask for God’s gift of grace, we also receive a new heart, which gives us the desire to live the Christian life. God’s grace is a free gift that enriches a life forever.
That soup mug I gave as a gift could soon be filled with goodness and warmth. If we embrace the gift of grace, our hearts will be filled with goodness and warmth as a result of God’s free gift.
Christine Laws is a freelance writer and editor living in Amity. Her stories, poems, and essays have appeared in a variety of publications. She is also the author of “Fresh and Fruitful: Cultivating the Art of Writing,” available at www.clp.org.
