From The Crucible (by Pastor Linda Pugsley)

Yesterday, I wrote about how grace is not the "what can I get away with” ticket that some think it is.

So what is this "grace" thing anyway? It's not a go ahead and do with complete abandon what God has said not to do; but rather grace is more the “guardrail” on the road to entering into a love relationship with Him and what He has said to do! God did not create us to sin, but to love Him and freely receive his love – a flow that was never to stop. That plan was terribly interrupted by man, not by God.

What God's grace means is that He did not throw us away forever, but while we were yet sinners, He still loved us. The caveat, though, is that if you do not come to Him to be cleansed of that sin, then your bodily death initiates the entrance of your un-cleansed nature into a place of death and darkness far from Him. Death, the grave and hell; or death, the grave and heaven? Your choice…and made possible with grace!

God knew that if we fell in love with Him as much (or near that) as He loves us, that our obedience to Him would not be motivated so much by guilt as by gratitude. We would want to be holy because we would want to please and be like the one we love.

The early Christian writer Augustine said, "If you but love God, you may do as you incline." And that is so true, as well as it sums up grace: God will love you through your journey toward Him. Don't be afraid to ask God to help you learn to love Him back. Endure the fire – it's producing pure gold!

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