Saturday, September 29, 2012

Grace Through the Ages - by Dr. Bill Smith


Grit & Grace: One New Yorker’s Thoughts on this newly released daily devotional...

I consider myself a New Yorker now...six years in this city will change a person.  One tends to find themselves more defensive, more on-edge, and less trusting than perhaps previous lifestyles have led them to be.  As a follower of Jesus Christ, I want to mirror Him to others but find myself struggling against the grain.  To be gracious and kind when the world around you is rough and rude - how is that possible?

Bill Smith, in his poignant, kind and sometimes ironic tone, identifies the only real transforming ingredient of our lives: the grace of God. While I read this devotional, I see glimpses of the character of a God Who blows me away with His gracious response to rude, disrespectful, and demeaning human beings: i.e., ME.  The only way I can live as a daughter of Him in this messed up world is to know the transforming power of an unimaginable grace that has been levied on me.  Just like the parable of the forgiven but ungrateful servant, I face a choice to pass that grace onto others OR show the world that I have not yet really and deeply understood just how much I have been forgiven.

The next time someone pushes me on the subway I'm going to try and remember that.

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