08/01/23
Grace Entitled
There is something common in all of man’s life, it’s what allows us to wake up in the morning and go to sleep soundly at night, it’s why we dream dreams, it’s why we are able to survive day to day. I have found that man has become entitled to these things. However, it is by God’s grace alone that we are able to have such things. I have often wondered why we are so quick to give credit to everything but God, as though he is not the creator of all things who sustains everything by his will through the name of Christ (Hebrews 1:2-3). So I pose the question in face of this entitled generation, how do we break the mold and begin to show our full appreciation of God’s glorious grace.
To start I feel we must define grace. Grace is when we receive something that we don’t deserve. That being said, what exactly do we deserve? In all of my considerations there is only one thing that we humans deserve, Hell. It may sound harsh, however all in life is a gift from the creator who we ultimately have turned against. Therefore, he owes us nothing and yet he provides graciously by his own faithfulness. And so everything we have is the Lord's gift to us, and as we read in scripture, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away” (Job 1:21). God owes us nothing as we have previously said, and at any moment he could stop giving us his grace if He were to so choose. However we know that God is faithful to his word and that it is impossible for him to lie (Hebrews 6:18). So we can trust that God will always provide for us, because that is what he has promised us (Matthew 6:31-33).
Now that still doesn't solve the problem that we have, and truly I see two common problems of man that are both wrong. There are those who take God’s grace for granted and those who attempt to reject God’s grace. We will begin discussing the latter and then the former. Who are we to reject the gracious gifts of the Lord? That being said, many dare not reject the common grace we all receive. We all desire a good night's rest, food in our belly, and clean water to drink. Yet some attempt to reject God’s gift of eternal salvation, by far the greatest gift he has provided for us. And why reject a gift that has already been paid for. A gift that truly no-one deserves. However, it is up to the person to choose whether he or she accepts that gift or rejects it, for it is available to all who would accept the Lord. It grieves me to my soul when I encounter people who reject the gift of God’s eternal salvation, let alone when they reject it due to their own despair. We need to wake up for the final day is coming and we must accept this gift before it arrives. Warn your loved ones, for soon it may be too late. For we know, that day will come like a thief in the night (Revelation 16:15, Matthew 24:43, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 2 Peter 3:10).
Grace entitlement of course is the term I have used to define the feeling that you deserve God’s grace and as a result take it for granted. This is like that of a child’s entitlement; they feel that their parents owe them simply because they brought them into the world. However, any parent knows that it is not because we owe anything to our child but rather due to our deep love for them. Once we mature we realize this and begin to show our parents the respect and appreciation they deserve for all they do for us. We cannot continue to act as children in our appreciation of grace but rather must grow up and live out our faith in appreciation of what the Lord has provided us with. God graciously became flesh by sending His Son to die on the cross on our behalf, yet all we are asked in return is to turn to Christ and obey him. Some would reject our work as a sign of appreciation however all throughout scripture we read that we must come to a faith that produces acts of obedience within us (James 1:22-25, Matthew 7:24-27, John 15:10-14, etc.)
I would ask that you would consider that which is in your life, consider what it is that you have taken for granted. Take time to thank the Lord for that thing. When we consider all that the Lord has done on our behalf we should weep at our own failure to show our gratitude. There is nothing that we can provide to the Lord in order to pay him back. And as always when that is the case, we must offer our entire lives. This is the only way that we can truly begin to show our appreciation. Thank you Lord for adopting us as your sons and daughters, that we might have the opportunity to become slaves of righteousness. Amen.
Associate Pastor Clay Hanley