Grace

I was so encouraged today in church (Thank you, Pastor Bill).  He was speaking on the wedding feast in Matthew 22 and talked about our possible responses to the invitation God gives us to enter His kingdom and accept His Grace.

In Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about a king who planned a wedding feast for his son and invited all his friends.  On the day of the feast, the friends don't come so the king invites anyone and everyone from the streets.  Even of those, there is some who don't come dressed appropriately.  My summary of Pastor Bill's interpretation is that we have 3 possible responses to God's call.

1).  We can reject the invitation - either by indifference or hostility.  Indifference would include being too busy with our normal life or being distracted.  Hostility would be purposely, and maybe violently, rejecting the invitation.

2).  We can accept the invitation but do so on our terms, not on God's terms.  In the parable, a man came in the wrong clothing but the problem with that is that the king provided the proper clothes, at no cost to the man, and the man refused to wear them.  We can come to God but not really humble ourselves under His rule, or think that our own righteousness should be enough and not truly cloak ourselves with Christ's righteousness.

3).  We can accept the invitation and understand that even our righteousness is provided by our God and then stand astonished by His mercy and the gifts we get to receive just because we are sitting at the table.

I think I have sat most often in the 2nd set of people.  And I am noticing that my understanding of God's grace is changing, dramatically.  With Caleb's death, I think I have a better view of the truly temporal existence we have.  I have always known that life was short and ended but that for God's people life continued through eternity in God's presence, but I didn't truly know how to apply that to my daily thinking. I now have a very clear look at how life here ends.

In seeing that, I am seeing how truly inadequate my efforts are.  I cannot extend my life, I cannot gain heaven, I cannot change my position.  My time on earth is set, once I have accepted Christ I have gained heaven, and my position will always be that of an adopted, loved child.  Acknowledging the grace of God gives me the ability to ENJOY the feast - to sit at the table astonished at the food in front of me - to wear beautiful clothing (righteousness) I could never afford - to be at the table with some impressive people I might not otherwise get to meet.  God's grace is more than entrance to heaven, it is my supply for everyday.  It gives me the ability to rest in the midst of pain, it allows me to not wallow in guilt, it offers me ability to give myself a break everyday as I struggle with daily life, it has allowed me to show God's character when I don't feel adequate to do so.  In short, to truly understand how inadequate I am and how fully engaged God is in my life.

I have said to God before, "I want to KNOW Your grace, do what it takes to teach me".  I'm sure there have been and could be other opportunities to learn but I am grateful He is still gently teaching me and that I am willing to listen and learn and haven't closed my heart to His teaching.  Again, He has captured my heart and I want to stay captured.