I have said countless times and in countless ways, that God has never intended for us as believers to walk this life as Christians by ourselves. I thank the Lord for His Word that instructs us, that exhorts us, that reveals God to us. I also thank God for His Church! I thank the Lord that on Sundays and Wednesdays I see things about God’s grace that without my brothers and sisters, I would not notice. What I mean by this is similar to what C.S Lewis states in Four Loves when he speaks of a friend dying. To summarize it, he says that he fears because of the death of his friend there is a facet of God’s love he will not be able to fully see this side of Heaven. The point that this wonderful author is making, is that through God’s grace at work in the lives of different people around us, we see different facets of God’s grace and work that we may not realize.
I think about men and women in my life - some of them were converted out of horrible situations and others of them were saved at an early age and avoided much of the heart ache that sin brings. But both of these two extremes show me a different view of God’s grace. This same thing happens in my home, as I watch my wife and two boys. I have the joy of seeing grace at work in different ways - I have the honor of correcting my boys in some of the same sins that I commit. As I watch their response to correction with the Word and I speak with them, I am also speaking to myself. As I watch and listen to them talk through their thoughts, emotions or confess their sin, I see God’s grace and it exhorts me to rest on His grace all the more.
All of that to say, that when we walk in the doors of the church this Sunday and speak to our brothers and sisters, be on the look out for the various colors in the great spectrum of God’s grace at work in their life! Take a moment and share with them how God uses them to bless you and encourage you. Tell them about the evidence of grace that you see as God works in them and what it does for you. What a blessing it is for others to show us another view of the work of our great God!
