The Gift You Can’t Earn
Well, now, my stars, friend, let me tell you what stopped me in my tracks this mornin’. I was standin’ out by the fence line, mindin’ my own business, when I spotted a plump little ol’ armadillo tryin’ to tiptoe across my yard like he was sneakin’ into church late and hopin’ nobody was noticin’. Bless his little ol’ determined heart, he kept trippin’ over his own feet and bumpin’ into every stump, stone, and startled grasshopper in sight. And right then the Lord surely came and tapped on my spirit like someone knockin’ on a screen door sayin’, “Friend, that right there is just like you tryin’ to pay for a gift I already wrapped and set on your front doorstep free of charge.” Well, that real big truth popped me awake faster than steppin’ barefoot on a child’s left out Lego right in the middle of the night. So, go on now, and scoot yourself into a good rocker and then, git plum settled in real proper like because we’re about to go strollin into a truth so rich it will make you want to wave your napkin like you’re at a fun family reunion that’ll make you want to git hollerin’, “Well glory be!” before the peach cobbler even cools enough to git eat it with a big ol’ glob of vanilla ice cream on top.
So, git to leanin’ in close because Ephesians 2:8-9 is makin’ a stand here like a mature cedar tree towering up real tall in a clearing by tellin’ us, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. It is not from works, so that no one can boast.”
Grace is God’s way of sayin’, “Quit tryin’ to pay for what I already bought.” John 1:12 tells us that all who receive Christ are given the right to become children of God. Not employees. Not spiritual day laborers. Children. And children don’t earn supper by mowin’ the yard. They get fed because they belong to the family.
Everything we receive from God comes the same way salvation came. By faith in Christ. First Corinthians 2:9-12 reminds us that God has prepared things for us that our eyes have not seen and our ears have not heard, and He reveals them by His Spirit. Romans 8:32 says, “If God did not spare His own Son, He will freely give us all things.” Friend, that’s more generous than a hard-working ol’ farmer who fills your basket with peaches and then slips in a few extra just because he likes your smile.
If the Lord leads you to do something, it’s never to earn His blessings. It’s to prepare your heart to receive ‘em. Joshua 6:1-5 shows us that obedience positions us, but grace provides the victory. Jesus never charged anybody for a miracle. Not one person ever had to earn His touch. So, don’t put your faith in your efforts. Put your faith in Christ. James 5:15 calls it the prayer of faith, and John 16:24 says, “When we ask in His name, we receive so our joy may be full.”
Father, thank You for the gift of grace that cannot be earned and will never run dry. Teach me to trust Christ alone, to ask boldly, and to receive freely. Help me rest in Your love and walk as Your child. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Now, wait just a lil’ ol’ minute and hold your horses a second, friend. Before you hop off this porch like a jackrabbit that just remembered it left the stove on, let this truth sink down into your spirit the way a good rain soaks into thirsty soil. God’s grace don’t ever wobble, flicker, or fizzle. It stands real firm, steady as an old oak that has weathered a hundred storms and still refuses to bow. His kindness reaches you the way a sunrise reaches every corner of a valley, slow at first, then suddenly everywhere at once. And His love is more surprising than findin’ an extra biscuit at the bottom of the basket when you were sure they was all gone. So, walk forward with a lifted head and a settled heart, friend, because you are livin’ in a gift you could never earn, wrapped in mercy you could never deserve, and carried by a God who delights in callin’ your name. Let that truth follow you today like the sweetest breeze on the hottest Texas summer afternoon.
With joy,
Gwen
