Grace — Week 2 – Thursday
TODAY’S VERSE
John 3:13
No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. (ESV)
Making our way into the arena, we casually strolled onto the blue carpet past security, trying our best to act natural. “Uh-oh,” my buddy said as we located our seat numbers. “We are definitely gonna be on TV…”
Don’t get me wrong, the opportunity to sit behind the Kentucky bench was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Hearing the players’ chatter. Seeing the assistant coaches’ facial expressions. To be honest, as good as these seats were, I’m pretty sure I could smell Mark Pope’s chewing gum (wintergreen).
But when you factor in how much they show the sideline on TV during the game and how big our church is, my buddy and I knew we didn’t stand a chance. Sure enough, our phones went crazy.
“Hey there, big shot!”…“How on earth did you guys get those seats?!”…Perhaps my favorite text came from one of our elders: “Wow! Didn’t know pastors had money like that?!?” (We don’t, by the way.)
“How’d you get these tickets again?” I inquired, leaning over to my buddy during a timeout. “Pure luck!” he smiled. “Just happened to know someone really generous.” That made sense.
If there were ever two dudes who didn’t deserve to sit courtside at Rupp Arena, it was us. But by this point in our lives, we’re used to it. Neither of us deserve our wives—we’re both short-legged and short-tempered. Neither of us deserve to be preachers—we’re painfully aware of that every time we give it a try. As a matter of fact, if my friend and I were to make our way through the gates of Heaven today, I think most people would probably have the same reaction: “How did they make it in here?” I wouldn't blame them for that.
But our response to those who said that would be simple: “We both know someone really generous.” And that someone is Jesus.
The reality is, our Lord and Savior is the only one who will deserve to be in Heaven. I certainly won’t deserve it. My friend won’t deserve it. And as much as I love you—you definitely won’t deserve to be there, either.
Luckily, the God who descended from Heaven and put on flesh wasn’t interested in giving us what we deserved—He was interested in giving us what we could never deserve. Because Jesus is really generous.
APPLICATION
Find an opportunity this week to be overly generous towards someone, ideally someone who can’t do anything for you in return.
PRAYER
Father, thank You for being so generous towards us. We could never deserve what You have given us through Your Son, Jesus.
