Flows To Fill

Ephesians 2:^8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (NIV).

How will your life look if it overflows with thanksgiving? In answering this question, the first thing we saw is When GRACE Flows In. The second thing is, GRATITUDE fills up. So, when grace flows in, gratitude fills up. When I really understand grace, gratitude is the natural response. When I understand that even though I am flawed and imperfect, God chooses to love me. When I understand that even though I cannot stand side by side with God’s holiness. Yet God has chosen to love me. When I fully understand that the God of heaven does not need me, yet He wants me. I am grateful to serve Him. Serving God is an honour and a huge privilege.

The truth is we can easily forget God’s grace. We focus on the things that are not, and leave the things that are, and we forget the grace of God. The classic example is Adam and Eve in the Bible. They focused on the one thing that God had kept away from them and left the other maybe billions of things that God had blessed them with. When we look at our lives, like Adam and Eve, sometimes we leave all the billions of things that God has blessed us with and focus on just one thing that we think we are lacking. People become ingrates and begin to make poor decisions when they lift their focus off God’s graciousness and focus on a lie that God has kept something away from them. That is playing with trouble.

I like what Saint Benedict said when he was setting up the monastery. He said, “First and Foremost There Must Be No Word Or Sign Of Grumbling, No Manifestation Of It For Any Reason At All.” Saint Benedict was setting up a community and he said in this community, there must be no word or sign of grumbling, nor manifestation of it for any reason. Imagine in your house, you say, and it stands that there is no form of grumbling or manifestation of it for any reason. Imagine how awesome that place will be. In any church, when we embrace the fact that there shall be no grumbling or manifestation of it of any kind, imagine how awesome that will be.

A parent told his child to put down his toys, and the child shouted back, ‘get out of my room!’ The parent’s response was, ‘This room you live in and are chasing me out of is in a house that I own. The fact that you live here, the clothes you wear, the toys you play with, and the bed you sleep on, is all grace’. We need to teach our children because sometimes they just don’t get it. And when a child does not get it, he or she grows up to be an adult that feels entitled and not grateful.

Prayer: Father, help me to overflow with gratitude because of Your grace and never be entitled, in Jesus Name. Amen!