Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.
Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/38w27z
The night had been long and full of agony. A trial had been convened, but it was full of liars and soon the condemned was led to be tortured as the supporters scattered about. His captors mocked the condemned, beat him and then they pummeled his body with torturous straps which ripped the skin of his back wide open. Weakened by the beatings and loss of blood, they led him through the streets of the city to shame him while he carried his cross. Finally they nailed him to that wood and raised him up in the air to die.
How could anyone endure so much and then still be willing to forgive those who did such a thing? Only as God’s Son could Jesus be able to do so.
Reflecting upon the tremendous gift of God’s grace in 1938, Tillit Teddlie wrote the song, “O The Depths And The Riches.” Still a popular tune, this song turns our minds to the agony of the cross and the boundless blessings of the grace of God. Here is the first verse and chorus of that song.
O the depth and the riches of God’s saving grace,
Flowing down from the cross for me!
There the debt for my sins by the Savior was paid,
In His suffering on
O the depth of such wonderful love,
Flowing boundless and full and free!
And the debt for my sins was all paid,
In His suffering on
Grace has been defined as “favor or kindness shown without regard to the worth or merit of the one who receives it and in spite of what that same person deserves.” Certainly that applies to our blessings from God since we in no way can deserve or merit His kindness.
Paul writes the following in Romans 5:6-8.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Now that is a love that you and I can not afford to ignore. God loved us enough to send His Son to die for us while we were still in a state of rebellion against Him. Grace is being extended to us. Forgiveness is being offered. Mercy is being shown. We dare not demand what we deserve. Rather we must plead for what has been promised.
Listen to this reading from Ephesians 2:4-10.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Our hearts bow in humility as we consider the agony our Lord suffered on our behalf. His suffering was necessary to free us from our sins. His blood cleanses us. God’s grace is undeserved, and unfortunately, many times, not accepted.
On Our Daily Walk today, may we contemplate the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. May we attempt to consider the depths to which God has gone in order to offer us salvation. May we determine to live our lives for God without delay.
Our thought for the day: “Grace humbles a man without degrading him and exalts him without deflating him.”
May God bless you on your daily walk.
© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.
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