Ephesians 2:8

This holiday season is like no other in my memory.  All around us is sadness, grief, anger, confusion, concern, loneliness and loss.  But through it all, we still have something that we can shout with joy about. That something is the Grace of God.

No matter how far we have come in our Christian walk, we all have sin in our past. That sin Is what separated us from God. The Apostle Paul tells us that, at some point, we all walked like the rest of the world.  We made decisions based on what we wanted and what felt good.  Romans 3:23 tells us the consequence of our old life, “the wages of sin is death”.  What we earned for our old way of life was death.

And when we were helpless with nothing in our future but darkness, sorrow pain and death, God, by His grace, saved us.

Ephesians 2:8

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.  10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them

What we earned was death.  What we received was Salvation in Christ.  That is the Grace of God. With all of the challenges around us this holiday season, there is much “good work” to be done.  Christians are beacons of encouragement for the sad, support for the grieving, calm for the angry, clarity for the confused, care for the lonely and comfort for those dealing with loss. We do not earn our salvation, but we live this way because we are saved.

Sam