Amazing Grace

Before church yesterday, Sharon and I stopped by at the grocery story to pick up something for pastor Matt. As we were standing in the drinks aisle, I was approached by a man. “Excuse me ma’am, can you spare a dollar? I just got out of prison and I want to buy food for my child”
How was I suppose to respond? On the one hand, I had heard many stories about not to give them money (and living in sheltered Singapore, I never really encountered beggars) and on the other hand, I was preparing to go to church! I stared at Sharon, at a loss and hoping for some suggestion (she didn’t have cash so the decision was all on me). Under her breath, she said I could buy the items for him.
“I buy your eggs for you. You can just go get them and I’ll pay” I mean, eggs don’t cost that much, and I had the money anyway, and what better day to show compassion than the Lord’s day?

A minute later, he returns with a carton of 1.5 dozen eggs. I was a little annoyed, because I expected him to get eggs that were under a dollar, a 12-egg carton. I sent him back to switch to a 1 dozen carton of eggs. He returns with a carton of Jumbo eggs (the largest and hence most expensive size). At this point, I was running late anyway, and I was too annoyed to really care anymore.

As we approach the checkout counter, he gives me his 2 dollars and asks me to pay for his other purchases of bread and sausage. I was really annoyed now, because I knew that they would cost about $2.50. This guy was trying to milk my kindness, he was trying to get the most out of me, to get as much money out of me as possible. What audacity.

I just ended up paying for all his purchases in the end, costing me more than the $1 he originally asked me for.
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What’s the point of this story? It isn’t meant to be a complaining blog. It was my reminder about Grace that Sunday morning.

How often are we like that man. We’re “good” people, Christians, who go about their day not doing “bad things” like committing crime. And then we ask God to bless us, to give us His best for our lives because we trust Him, because we serve Him/the church.

It’s not that I didn’t want to help the man, I did, $1 was definitely something I could easily afford. It’s not that God doesn’t want to bless us, love and blessing is definitely something that God cannot wait to give.

What annoyed me was that this man was never grateful for my charity. This man acted like it was something I should do, like he deserved my charity and sympathy.
Thankfully God doesn’t get annoyed when we aren’t grateful for his love. We so often act like God must bless us, like we deserve His love and blessing.

We don’t. We have absolutely no right to even ask God for his forgiveness, much less love and blessing!
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God..” Romans 3:23
I was taken back to the cross where One died so that I could experience God’s love, a costly sacrifice that cost me nothing, and that I don’t deserve.

It was an object lesson in Grace, because God’s grace in my life, especially at this point when I am trying to seek His will out, is that He does want the very best for me in my life. God’s grace is that He loves me so much that He wants me to become all that He made me for. The good things that God wants for you in your life, that’s GRACE! BUT I have no right to demand His best for my life.

Instead, in all humility I must ask God to direct my paths, because I want to please and worship Him, not because I want His best for my life.
The correct response to grace is humility, thankfulness, worship, praise, reciprocation of love, obedience.