When I first accepted Christ, all I focused on was the receiving of eternal life and going to heaven. I didn’t really understand the Lord’s sacrificial love nor was I able to make myself interested in reading the Bible. I also was not very keen on attending church and often tuned out during sermons.
There were even times when I felt that the Lord’s commandments impeded my freedom, as if this “label” of being a Christian had trapped me. It was not until once during service, we were singing a hymn, and when we sang the words, “God’s grace is sufficient for me,” the tears began to fall. I thought of myself, entering this world naked and yet had been given so many blessings and so much love, I was moved and felt filled in a way that has never happened before. At the end of the song, my heart was uncharacteristically at peace, and the tears kept pouring down. I felt the realness of God, like a child, who had left home for many years, now finding herself tightly held in her father’s arms. My heart was seized by both gratitude and repentance. A few days later, it was Easter, and as I watched the film “The Passion of the Christ,” each whip-inflicted wound on Jesus’ body shook me to the core. I could not imagine that pain, could not imagine that shame.
When I finally understood Christ’s sacrificial love, somehow a new relationship between God and me was forged. As I understood God’s love, I now know that I was bought at a great price. A mere clay vessel I am, but the Lord has placed his precious love within me, so that I am now considered of great worth. I will never treat reading His Word a duty because I desire for God to speak to me, I thirst for deeper connection with Him, and I long to be close to him. I joyfully obey His commands, not on my own strength, but because I love Him, and I know that every time I sin, the Lord is grieved. When I share the Gospel with others, it is not because the pastor told me to do so, not because others tell me that we might receive rewards from the Father if we do so, but because, like a child who has discovered a great treasure, I cannot help but ecstatically share it with my friends, hoping that others will also have it.
Praise God for His selection, for His great love that cannot ever be repaid. One can only accept this cup of salvation and give thanks to Your Name. Hallelujah!
“His Grace is Enough”
A hymn from Mainland China
When I am suffer trials and temptations,
Jesus told me, “My grace is enough.”
When I am discouraged and helpless,
Jesus told me, “My grace is enough.”
This promise is in my heart.
The Holy Spirit leads to be joyful
in the midst of trials of many kinds
because He has already told me that
His grace is enough for me.
Just believe; His grace is enough for me.
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