Nitty-gritty

2 Peter 3:¹⁸ “Let the gift of undeserved grace and the understanding that come from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ help you keep on growing. Praise Jesus now and forever! Amen.” (CEV)

For you to walk in the fullness of many things in life, it is important to understand the fundamentals of how it works. If you are in a university, for instance, you need to understand the fundamentals of the school you are in. You need to understand the systems and how the school runs. If you do not, even if you have the potential of graduating with a first-class, you will not because you would be working against the fundamentals of the system. For instance, if attendance is forty percent and for some reason you chose not to attend classes. However, you are confident that you can get a hundred percent in your exams.

Even if you actually write the exams and get a hundred percent, it can only constitute sixty percent of the total points needed. That means you can never get above sixty percent if you do not attend lectures. So, something as simple as that is one of the fundamentals of how the school runs. If you understand the fundamentals of the school, you will attend the lectures and get your hundred percent on the exams. And cumulatively, your total will be a hundred percent. That is very similar to how life is. In different areas of life, there are fundamentals that you need to understand. In mathematics, for instance, if you do not understand the fundamentals, you cannot solve the big problems.

Most of the time, we look at a big math problem and we are intimidated by how complex it is. But the people who solve it are able to because they understand the fundamentals. Beyond understanding the fundamentals, they can apply the fundamentals and solve the problem. Same with life and with grace. Culture teaches us that you earn whatever you get in life. Complete the following statements for me. “If it’s too good to be true, then…”. “No pain…”. And one that was very popular when I was growing up was, “Heaven helps those who…”. Interestingly, this statement is not in the Bible. They are good virtues, nonetheless.

If you watch an investment and it is too good to be true, then it is too good to be true. There is nothing like a free lunch because most people have ulterior motives. No pain, no gain is the concept that if you don’t put in your back to do the work, you won’t get the result. The problem is that as good as these virtues are, they sometimes make it difficult to relate with God. Why? It is because God relates with us primarily by grace. Everything in your life is a gift of grace.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the gifts of Your abundant grace in my life. Give me a deeper understanding and appreciation of Your grace, in the Name of Jesus. Amen!