Grace Entry

1 Cor. 15:²² (MSG) “Everybody comes alive in Christ.”

When we choose to live for Christ, His life, His wealth becomes ours. It is a miracle. There is a true-life story about a homeless man in San Francisco. This homeless man went from place to place picking up scrap just to survive. So, a Christian couple that ran a grocery store, decided to take care of this homeless man. Every time he shows up at their store, they would give him something to eat for free. Then, unfortunately, their store was robbed. The police examined the surveillance footage and concluded that it must have been the homeless man that robbed their store. But the couple said the man would not rob them because he is their friend. For the sake of the man’s dignity, they later gave the homeless man a special grocery pack.

The police, doing their job, found the man with the groceries and brought him to the couple, “We told you he was the one that robbed your store. We found him with the goods.” The couple looked at the man and for the sake of his dignity said, “We forgot to give you your change when you bought these groceries. Here you go” and they handed him thirty-eight dollars and sixty-seven cents just to prove that he bought it. The police looked at themselves in amazement, and of course, the man was free to go. Months later, the homeless man was found dead. The only possession he had was his bag and everything in it. They found a note in the bag that stated that everything in the bag belongs to the couple. On receiving the bag, the couple went through the content and they found seeds for birds and the sort of things that would typically be found in a homeless man’s bag.

The only thing of worth in the bag was a Bible, so they took the Bible. The Bible had a bookmark in it and when they opened it, it was a savings account booklet. The last entry was thirty-eight dollars, sixty-seven cents which brought the total of the savings account to over three million dollars. The man placed the booklet right next to Matthew 25 and he had underlined verse 35, “For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.” Obviously, this changed the lives of this couple forever. The homeless man apparently had a terminal disease and decided to leave everything he had and stay on the streets with normal people. He eventually met this couple and willed everything he had to them.

What happened in this true story is a classic example of what happened at the cross. When Jesus was on the cross, naked, wretched, hanging there; at that cross, was the owner of the heavens and the earth. But the people around Him had no clue. He made the people that nailed Him to the cross. The nails they used, He created it. The wood they put Him on, He made it. But Jesus said, everyone who receives Him can have everything in His bag. The better life – a meaningful life, a life freed by grace, and a life filled with energy. The question is, who can give you a better life?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I surrender everything to You. I access the better life in Christ; a meaningful life, freed by grace, filled with energy, in Jesus Name. Amen!