S204P5 – Our spiritual fuel: God’s grace

Heb. 4:14-16

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Although I was an adult at that time, I was still just a kid.  I had neither the attitude nor the level of respect required to move on up.  If I stayed there, I knew that it would be some time before an opportunity for advancement presented itself and for me to be ready to take on such an opportunity.  Little mistakes on the job were common and overlooked because they were fixable, but I made a very big mistake one day. My head should have been on the chopping block, but my manager stepped in to secure my position when her boss called for my dismissal. Without that favor, which I surely did not deserve, I would have been walking out the door and left without a job.

God’s grace has a curative property to it.  Left to our own devices, we are perpetually finding ourselves in situations from which we cannot possibly free ourselves.  This is not only about salvation through Jesus Christ.  On a daily basis, we are faced with an inability to truly provide what we need.  We cannot sustain ourselves in our imperfection.  The grace of God finishes what we would have no choice but to leave unfinished. The grace of God steps in and provides what we need when we cannot provide it ourselves.  God’s favor opens doors that would remain closed to us otherwise.  It is a constant and humbling reminder that we desperately need our heavenly Father. There are too many problems that we cannot fix and too many needs that we cannot meet.

If we removed God’s grace from our lives, we would be headed in the direction of destruction.  No matter what we think we can accomplish on our own, our efforts alone provide no salvation and no comfort. God’s grace becomes our fuel because it allows us to start anew and fills in the gaps that we cannot fill ourselves. God’s grace makes up the difference when we take inventory of all that we lack, whether in character or in power.  This scripture tells us to find grace in our time of need because we need that grace to make it.  The fuel of God’s grace is its ability to complete everything that is incomplete in us. Father, thank You that your grace is available freely and that we can boldly approach your throne to seek it.