Bible Readings
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Thought
It would appear that daily I receive at least one email from a company which I have previously purchased something from, trying to convince me that I need to buy something else from them. Either they try to convince me that I must be tired of items of furniture that I have around the house so that I need to replace them with something more up to date, or more stylish, or just simply newer, or they try to tell me that I deserve a treat of some kind. This treat can range from an exotic holiday, to a new car or just some money off my next purchase. What I have done to deserve this treat appears to be nothing more than having purchased something from them before. Today the email started “Christmas Savings – A Discount You Deserve!”
This got me thinking about what exactly do I deserve?
The time is fast approaching when consideration must be given to what to buy or make people for Christmas presents and what I might like to receive (in our family you give ideas to help people with present giving). We don’t give people presents because they deserve them, we give them presents as an act of love.
God did not give his gift of grace to us because we deserved it; quite the opposite we did not deserve it at all, but he gave his gift of grace to us because of how much he loves us. As it says in Ephesians, we are saved not because of anything that we have done, but simply by our faith in Jesus Christ. This gives us a reason to celebrate on every day of the year, we have the best gift that anyone could have; our sins are forgiven and we have the gift of eternal life.
Prayer
Thank you Father God, that you love us so much. We do not deserve your love and grace but we accept it as the free gift that it is. Help us to share with others the knowledge that we have of you.
Amen
Song: The Art of Celebration (Rend Collective)
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