There is an old Hasidic tradition. The first time a Jewish child opens the scripture to read and study it, his parents or the Rabbi will place a large drop of honey on the first page. The child is instructed to lick the honey from the page, forever imprinting the mind of the child that God and His Word are sweet.
The Bible says, Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:3
God longs for us to not only taste, but that we crave the pleasurable goodness of His word. Just as infants instinctively, eagerly, and incessantly hunger for their mother’s milk, so we are to long for God and His goodness.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Go into Grace
Most of the time when we think of grace, if we think of it at all, we think of past grace. But the Bible also speaks of future grace.
1 Peter 1:13 says, …set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. We forget that grace not only initiates our relationship with God, but carries it every step of the way.
A lot of people live with the idea that they probably needed a whole lot of grace when they first became believers. For them, that was their big grace moment. They also adopt the myth that as time goes on they need less and less grace. And they conclude that if they live long enough, they will get this Christian-thing wired. Therefore when they meet Jesus, there will be no grace required.
Let me give you an example of how this really messes you up. Let’s say you accepted Christ as a four year old in Sunday School. You know, somewhere between the craft and the snack. And then, as you grew up, you were taught that you got all your grace at the front end of your journey with God. And I’m not saying that it doesn’t take a lot of grace for a four year old to be saved. We know it does. But c’mon! On a practical level, if I got all my grace when my biggest sin problem involved cookies …and calling my brother a booger … and ever since I’m just getting more and more like Jesus …it doesn’t leave a lot of room to experience and appreciate grace. A lot of people live that way. A lot of Christians believe that we get grace at the beginning, but from then on we need to “cowboy up” the rest of the way.
But if grace is something that is not only poured out on the front end, but if grace is something we enter into everyday, if grace is something we passionately look forward to receiving in abundance at the end of our lives, if that’s what grace is all about, then that is an incredible hope.
Go into grace.
.
1 Peter 1:13 says, …set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. We forget that grace not only initiates our relationship with God, but carries it every step of the way.
A lot of people live with the idea that they probably needed a whole lot of grace when they first became believers. For them, that was their big grace moment. They also adopt the myth that as time goes on they need less and less grace. And they conclude that if they live long enough, they will get this Christian-thing wired. Therefore when they meet Jesus, there will be no grace required.
Let me give you an example of how this really messes you up. Let’s say you accepted Christ as a four year old in Sunday School. You know, somewhere between the craft and the snack. And then, as you grew up, you were taught that you got all your grace at the front end of your journey with God. And I’m not saying that it doesn’t take a lot of grace for a four year old to be saved. We know it does. But c’mon! On a practical level, if I got all my grace when my biggest sin problem involved cookies …and calling my brother a booger … and ever since I’m just getting more and more like Jesus …it doesn’t leave a lot of room to experience and appreciate grace. A lot of people live that way. A lot of Christians believe that we get grace at the beginning, but from then on we need to “cowboy up” the rest of the way.
But if grace is something that is not only poured out on the front end, but if grace is something we enter into everyday, if grace is something we passionately look forward to receiving in abundance at the end of our lives, if that’s what grace is all about, then that is an incredible hope.
Go into grace.
.
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