FREE TO PRAISE

God placed me in just the right place, among just the right people, at just precisely the right time so I could fall on His grace and mercy, believe in Christ Jesus, and receive salvation from my sins.

Still, I found myself living ‘forgiven’ yet not free. I still felt the lure of the world strongly and, consequently, succumbed to lusts of the flesh, pursued personal ambitions, and thought much more of myself than I should have.

Perhaps you can relate. I’ve never yet met a Christian who hasn’t ‘backslidden’ at one time, or another, and yet, God pursues us until we return to His side.

We are sinful people who have a track record of rebelling against God’s laws. Romans 5:8 reminds us of the great truth: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In the midst of our rebellion God’s grace was presented to us. Yet, in the embrace of saving grace, we still rebel.

In the 9th chapter of Nehemiah, during a time when the people of Judah are during of their sins, a group of leaders pray. In their prayer they confess the winds of those who came before them, as well as their own, and they recall God’s grace in these words:

“But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. You did not abandon them, even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said, ʻThis is your God who brought you up from Egypt,ʼ or when they committed atrocious blasphemies.

“Due to your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. The pillar of cloud did not stop guiding them in the path by day, nor did the pillar of fire stop illuminating for them by night the path on which they should travel. You imparted your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths; you provided water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them. Even in the desert they never lacked anything. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.”. (Nehemiah 8:17-21)

The recounting of God’s graciousness goes on for multiple written paragraphs. The point is: despite Israel’s incessant rebellion, chasing after foreign gods, disregarding of God’s laws, disgracing His name among the people of the earth, and forgetting all of His promises, and disregarding all of His warnings, God’s grace remains.

God’s grace is not dependent on us. It is dependent on God—and He never changes.

This does not mean that if we want to act like the Israelites of Old, chasing after other gods, living selfishly and disgracing His name that He will give us the grace to succeed in our unrighteousness.

Not at all (or, as The apostle Paul would say, “By no means!”). But what it does mean is that God’s grace is ever-available to us for repentance and for recommitting our lives to Him.

But, notice the content of the prayer. It is a stream of acts of God which need to be remembered!

I fear, at times, that the modern Church (myself, first of all) has a tendency to forget much of what God has done for us. The truth of Christ’s payment for our sins, God’s unfailing forgiveness and our promise of eternal life have become so stereotypical, if you will, that we are prone to ‘rest on our laurels’, so to speak, and miss the degree of praise, Thanksgiving, and genuine awe they deserve.

But, in keeping score of God’s grace in Christ, let us not be so quick to dismiss His grace poured out for our sake, beginning at Day One. In fact, step back before time began and see that His plan for us has been ‘in play’ since before the foundations of the earth are laid.
“He [God] chose us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” (Ephesians 1:4)

I, for one, want to get beyond prayers like, “Thank you, LORD, for this day.” Understand me: I believe we should bless God for the day He’s made; but, I want my thanksgiving to go deeper still. I want to remember His great and constant blessings, His grace, His goodness, His patience, His deliverance, His choice of spiritual leaders, prophets and judges, His delight in us—even though we sin, His perfect plan, His graciousness in imputing our sin on Jesus and His righteousness on us when we least deserved it.

Will you join me in celebrating God’s goodness consistently?

If nothing else, pick one promise, one blessing of God to praise Him for each day for a week; then, choose another for week 2, and another…