Grace Upon Grace

In my devotions yesterday, the scripture verse for the day was John 1:16 which says "For of His fullness, we have all received, and grace upon grace." NKJV. It was that last part of the verse that caught my attention, "grace upon grace." I haven't been able to stop thinking about that.

In scripture, "grace" can refer to two things, the first one being God's saving grace that was manifested once and for all in the sacrifice of His son, Jesus, as the payment for our sins.  How grateful I am for that grace! 

But over and over again, the Bible speaks of God's grace toward us and it is referring to a different type of grace.  This grace is God's free and unmerited favor that he extends to us in spite of our sinfulness.  There is nothing that we can do to earn this grace or to deserve it. 

We live in a world where grace is in short supply.  Our imperfections and failures are rarely met with grace and forgiveness by others...even by our friends, and certainly not by our enemies.  It is a hard life, with little expectation of grace.

But then, in walks God. And with Him comes grace.  Psalm 86:15 says, "But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness." Philip Yancey, author of the book, "What's so Amazing About Grace?" has said, "There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less." And it is because of this unfathomable love that God is gracious towards us.

I know that no matter how hard I try, I will never live a life that is deserving of such grace.  But the good news is that God is willing to cover my shortcomings and failures with His "grace upon grace."  He offers me forgiveness and showers me with blessings simply because that's who He is.   And the only thing that I can do in regard to this amazing grace is to accept it with a thankful, humble heart.