As we move into this weekend I am aware of the fact that many of us are about to do something stupid.  That may seem like an obvious thing, as a race we have been doing it for millennia, but for many they will regret it on Sunday.  Why do we make choices that bring us pain?  I could go on and on and on….no seriously I could really go on…….here about sin and sin nature, about wounds in our soul, about mob mentality and culture, but the truth is I am just as perplexed with human behavior as everyone else.

Maybe we do it because we don’t understand the nature of Grace.  Grace is the scandalous love of God that embraces us despite our sin, wounds and imperfections.  Grace is what allows a perfect God to love a perfect screw-up like me.  Augustine, one of the early church father’s was so taken by the Grace of God that he once said, sin and sin big so that you can encounter God’s grace, or something like that.  And while I don’t agree with his statement, I get it!  I have felt that warm embrace of the soul that says, I don’t care who you are or what you have done, I love you, and I am glad you are home.

But Grace is more than that.  Grace isn’t just the embrace of restoration after the mistake, it is the power to keep us together as well.  Sure, if I drink too much this weekend, God’s grace will welcome me back.  If I look, or act inappropriately with that beautiful woman, or man for some of you, God’s grace will heal my heart and restore me.  But how deep can a relationship really grow that is only marked by forgiveness.  Grace is not just the power to be forgiven, it is the power to walk rightly with God.  Something formerly I could not do, I was a slave to my passions.

So this weekend, I am going to lean on Grace, not to restore me on Sunday, but to keep me on Friday and Saturday.

Father,

Thanks for send Jesus.  I am sorry that I have made too little of what He has done, thinking only of the forgiveness that He offers and not learning to lean on Him to keep me.  Please hold me up this weekend.  Don’t let me do something I will regret, say something that I will have to apologize for, or become someone I feel the need to hide.  May your grace cause my life to be wide open, honest, transparent and full.

I really love you and look forward to the day when we will be together all the time,

Your Son and slow learner,

Jerry