Christian Living

God's Unmerited Favor For Us

by Travis Darnell
02/17/18
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                It is a hard thing to wrap our hands around or come to comprehend, the grace of God. Unconditional, unmerited favor. In Genesis chapter 14, God’s grace was displayed through Abraham to his nephew Lot. Even though Lot had made a decision to put he and his family in the middle of “sin city” so-to-speak, when in trouble, Abraham went to the rescue of Lot. He was family, warts and all. He was a brother, sin and all. Nothing Lot did could ever separate the love and care Abraham had for him. And Abraham worked this God-given grace out perfectly in the actual details of his life.

            It is a wonderful thing to know that God our Father, sees and cares for us in the same way. It was by God’s grace that enabled Abraham to love Lot like he did. Abraham was not born this way, but rather was fashioned and molded this way, by God Himself. We blow it, compromise and do not trust and listen to our God like we should, but even though this is the case, God’s love for us never changes. There is no “shifting shadow” within God as to His love for us. His love is set and fixed on us by His own decision for it to be so. Do not ever begin to take the love God has for you for granted, because the love He has for us comes from a deep reservoir within Himself that was reserved for us from the foundation of the world, before we were ever born. God’s love for us is a very personal thing to Him, because it cost Him everything. But you know what, in His eyes, we were worth the price it cost Him. Lord, thank you for being just exactly who You are.

            As believers, we, if abiding and in love with our God, should have this same kind of love and grace for all our brother’s and sister’s in Christ. When they let us down, when they go their own way, we are to still show them the same love and devotion that God shows us on a daily basis. When they hit rock bottom, if repentant and have a willingness to return to God, are we there to support and hold them up? When one is backslidden, are we on our knees in intercessory prayer for them to be restored back to God? Or do we have an attitude of “I told you so?”

            Not once does God ever hold one of His children's sins over their heads after being restored back to Himself. He never reminds us of the times when we betrayed Him or ignored Him. God is not in the business of shame, we seem to be able to do that to ourselves well enough without God’s help. No, God is in the business of picking up, restoring, repairing, forgiving and remaking. Let’s face it, our God is greater than anything we can ever imagine in this lifetime. May we seek to know Him as deeply and personally as we can, and call others to do the same.

            The examples of Lot and the prodigal son (read Luke 15: 11-24) show us the wonderful, unmerited grace God has for us. Lot’s lack of taking his relationship with God seriously, could have cost Abraham his life. The prodigal son is an example of how we can break God’s heart when we decide to leave Him for the love of the world. And then of course, the ultimate price was paid for the whole worlds sins at the cross. But you find nowhere in scripture where God or even Abraham for that matter, ever held Lot’s, the prodigal son’s or our own sins over our heads or threw them back into our faces, even though it cost Jesus His very life, and Abraham much grief and strife. No “I told you so’s,” and “you will have to work your way back into my trust,” or “you owe me because it cost me so much.” None of this is in God for us, but only celebration on the part of our Savior God, piercings and all. May God’s grace and mercy be the same in us, as it is in Him. This only comes from knowing and loving God as Abraham knew and loved God.