I have elected to rewrite this very challenging entry that I published nearly a year ago. I previously identified a controversy that is still reinforced, to detrimental effect, among many seeking some kind of logical proof as to whether some tenets conform to truth better than others.
Let me speak of grace in terms of my deepest love for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He loves me. It is the same love he has for all of Father’s children. I deserve no blessing, and yet every time I make choices to become better or do better, I feel that love, which was always there, burst forth in my heart. This freely flowing love from my Savior is my saving grace.
Even in very dark hours of my life, I have felt the Saviors kind pull as soon as I reach out to Him in sincere prayer. Prayers invite what is often imperceptible change. The gift of grace turns desires expressed in prayer into a kind of enabling control system that begins making subtle adjustments that may not immediately appear to effect a change in direction, but begin to gently nudge needed course change on a path to eternal life.
Men will stand before God to be judged according to their works, for so it is written. But whatever else the scriptures say, I feel that if the day comes where I have the privilege of kneeling before my Savior and kissing his loving hands and bathing his feet with my tears, it will only have been through His grace that has blessed me every day of my life.
Grace is a deep topic to me, and one that I cannot yet understand or appreciate fully. I look forward to the day when grace has fully rooted evil out of my heart and created within me a new heart that “when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” 1 John 3
Our works matter, for it is written (Revelation 14:13), “Blessed are they that die in the Lord… and their works do follow them.” Our love matters. Our time and talents invested in blessing others matters. But it only truly matters because of the transforming gift of grace through our Savior, Jesus Christ.
