This morning the word ‘grace’ came to mind so I thought I’d do a little research. The dictionary defines grace as; favor or goodwill, manifestation of favor, mercy, clemency or pardon, and my favorite; an allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor before suit can be brought against him or her or a penalty applied. The word grace in the biblical sense is, unmerited favor.

The first mention of grace in the bible is found in Genesis 6:8, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Here’s something else you may not know, it’s also the first story that the word covenant can be found in the bible. Interesting. So after God looked down and saw that the world he’d created had become extremely evil and decided to destroy it, he found one man who was good. One man that could carry the seed to repopulate the earth with a people who would honor God. One man to manifest his favor and cancel the penalty of sin.

The difference between the favor of man and the favor of God is this, you must earn or work for the favor of man, but because of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for our sin, we don’t have to earn it, work for it, manufacture it, we simply receive it. Romans 11:6 Amplified says, “But if it is by grace (His unmerited favor and graciousness), it is no longer conditioned on works or anything men have done. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace [it would be meaningless].” Another translation says it would no longer be a free gift if it was something you had to work for. 

Perhaps you still don’t understand so let me explain it like this; The money in our bank account is what we earned or worked for. God has given us access to everything he owns, all the gold and silver, land, new body parts, everything we have need of. Let’s say it like this, our name is on God’s checking account which has more 0000’s on it then you can count, simply because we’ve accepted the gift of redemption from sin which Jesus purchased for us with his blood.

Father, I receive your grace and I thank you for it. It’s by grace I’m saved. I can’t earn my salvation, you freely give it to me. I thank you for everything associated with that extreme favor I see on my life each and everyday. One moment of your favor sets me up for a lifetime. I’m so thankful for your grace. It’s not a license to be bad, it creates a desire to reflect you. May the grace you’ve placed on my life be a gift that keeps giving. May everyone I meet, everyone I touch, everyone who hears my voice, be affected by that same grace. It’s in Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.