Giving Grace

Eph 4:7 "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift." NKJV

 

Grace. What is it? Getting what I don't deserve. Amazing grace…what is it? Receiving grace that is measured by the gift that Jesus, the God of all creation gives.

 

This past week was Thanksgiving. I look all around me and I see grace. I look at my computer and I see grace. I look at this room and I see grace. I look at my clothes and I see grace. I think about my ability to write and I see grace. I look at my wife and I see grace. I look at my kids and I see grace. I look at Maddie and I see grace. I look at my job and I see grace. I look at my ministry and I see grace. I look at my friends and I see grace. I look at my church and I see grace. I look at life and I see grace. I look at eternal life and I see grace. I look at Jesus and I see grace. This is not an exhaustive list, but I get the idea. Jesus is full of grace. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…".

 

The amazing thing is this: Jesus is in the business of giving. Grace was given according to His gift. It was His gift to give and He gave it.

 

And I think about this: I am not more like Christ than when I extend grace. I am not more like Christ than when I freely give. I am not more like Christ than when my attitudes are gracious and when I hold my stuff loosely. This is tough. I like to hang on to my attitudes. I like to hang on to my stuff. Jesus didn't. He gave it all. Even on the cross He was extending grace to those who were still alive. The thief on the cross. His mother. The entire world. How generous am I?

 

The cool thing is what comes next. This grace, this giving nature of Christ resulted in giving gifts to men. Look at verse 8. He ascended on high, a pretty big deal. He led captivity captive, a huge deal. And in the middle of all of this amazing work, He gave gifts to men. And He still gives gifts to men. Sure all of the stuff that I listed earlier, but He went even beyond that and gave me a special gift. A spiritual gift. Something that I could not possess without Him. Just wait…