The Way We Get In Is The Way We Stay In

By now the turkey has been picked clean to the bone. We’ve all had the leftovers…warmed up turkey dinner in a plastic container that will just keep eating a bigger hole in the ozone, turkey sandwiches, turkey mash, turkey casserole, turkey soup, turkey tetrazzini, turkey stir fry, etc. I hope you had as great a week as I have…church, family, friends, shopping at the Yellow Mall, movies, and looking for my “next-size up jeans.” This is a fabulous time of year for me personally, something I look forward to even more than my birthday. It has an allure to me and I fixate my mind on all the possibilities that these few days of Thanksgiving will present to me. I only have about 360 more days until next year…can’t wait!

The older I get the more my “thankfulness” takes on a deeper and more meaningful dimension. I used to be thankful just for the break from school, food, or a couple of days off. Now I don’t go to school, I can’t eat the way I used to, and I basically dictate the days I take off for the holiday. What I am truly thankful for now is the grace that God gives to me in everyday moments…the grace of life, love, family, friendship, worship, encouragement, unity, forgiveness, eternity, and so much more. I am now seeing everything and everyday as a gift of God’s immeasurable grace. I am experiencing these everyday moments as something that I truly have not earned or even deserved.

I am learning everyday that since I was saved by amazing grace that is how I need to live, by God’s amazing grace. Paul said it well,

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. (Colossians 2:6)

The way we got in is the way we stay in! That is a lesson I am growing in daily. This is not just something I want to learn for myself, it something I want my family to grow in and something I want Calvary to learn well as a church. We never stop learning and growing in the amazing, marvelous grace of God.

Grace & Peace,
Scott