Grace and Peace

It all started a couple of months ago. I was feeling:

• Fat
• Undisciplined
• Like I couldn’t “get it together”
• Selfish
• Unproductive
• Like I wasn’t doing enough FOR God – serving enough, worshipping enough, praying enough.

I was feeling bad about myself and sorry for myself. What a loser. Well, being a loser and feeling bad is a problem that MUST BE FIXED NOW! So to fix it, I decided I would DO SOMETHING FOR GOD. I would serve somebody in some way. So I signed up for the first service project I could find at my church.

Immediately I regretted it. I just wasn’t feeling it. Could it be that God really didn’t need me to do something for Him with the motivation of making myself feel better? Or perhaps I was still to be in this “season of rest” He had given me, that at times could be very uncomfortable.

Cut to my Bible reading that morning.  In the first chapter of Colossians it said:

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father.

Grace and Peace.

God extends his grace to me. I don’t have to perform. I don’t have to do a certain amount of anything – serving, worshipping, praying, reading the Bible, having a “quiet time”. I don’t have look, eat or feel a certain way. There are no hoops to jump through. Through Jesus, God extends grace to me. I can be at peace. I am at peace with Him.

Grace and Peace. I breathed in those words in like someone who hadn’t taken a breath in a very long time. I’ve heard these words for years. But it has taken getting to this side of 50 to start to believe and embrace them.

I haven’t been into Christmas this year. But as we get closer and I think about the birth of Jesus, I am reminded that He is the ultimate symbol of Grace and Peace.

He came from Heaven, was born into this world with all it’s problems and lived as a man. He never sinned. He modeled love and compassion. Then died on the cross for our sins.

He pursued us. Extended grace. The sacrifice of His life giving us peace with God.

So there you have it.

Grace and Peace.

The perfect gift from God.

And what a gift it is.

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!

How are you trying to “do” more for God? In what areas do you need to remember that God extends grace and peace to you?