“And rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.” (Joel 2:13, ESV)
God’s grace. It’s more! Better than I deserve!
Many of us are familiar with song amazing grace. We use the word amazing to describe this incredible gift of grace.
But the word amazing is used to describe many things. We watch the latest YouTube video about the “amazing” cat that can play a keyboard. Or we go to the store and see the sign for the “amazing” sale where everything is discounted except the things you would actually want to buy. We discover that what was described as amazing is often not all that amazing.
What is amazing? What is incredible? What is super? We throw these superlatives around to describe rather ordinary things. And when everything is amazing, then nothing is amazing. We are let down. And maybe we are tempted to think that amazing grace is ordinary like everything else we describe as amazing.
But amazing grace is not like that. Maybe we describe it as amazing grace because it is the best word we have. But that doesn’t mean the word fully appreciates what grace is. The reality is that we don’t really have words to quantify God’s grace. It is the one thing that seems too good to be true that is true.
Why is God gracious and merciful? I can answer the how. He gives us grace through Jesus’ sacrifice. But I can’t give you the reason why. And that is what is amazing. We don’t deserve it. Grace is not ordinary. It’s beyond words.
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