Still growing
I just got home from walking with the kids (some of them) and our puppy (lots of him). We stopped and talked with some friends down the hill and then searched the middle school baseball fields for stray balls that the puppy could chase. By the time we got home it was dark.
While we were out the kids and I got to talking about baptism. (We are having a baptism here next Sunday and I preached about it yesterday.) We talked about growth and about the seriousness or lack thereof in our Christian walks. We came to some sort of a conclusion about how it was good that grace was there for those times when we weren’t all that serious (my translation). We didn’t want to get baptized everytime we messed something up. (Since we write our names on the backside of the wall in front of the baptistry, it would be really embarrassing to have your name up there 20 times!)
Grace is a cool thing. God keeps loving us through the serious times and the not-so-serious times, the good times and the not-so-good times, the I-really-am-a new-creation times and the not-so-new-looking times. He even keeps loving us when we’re sort of like the puppy and leave messes in the living room. For a guy prone to a short attention span and the ability to be not-so-new-looking sometimes, grace and mercy are really good news.
The whole thing got me thinking about this blog, too. I keep trying to get it going and faltering. But the opportunity is always here to start again and to do better. It’s there because my wife, in her normal grace-filled manner keeps the website current and keeps giving me opportunities (without nagging me!).
So here I go again. (and this time I know how to post stuff myself, without geek support, so I have fewer excuses).
God’s mercy is new every morning and every time I sit down to write. And every time I make a mess in the living room.
April 20th, 2010 at 1:07 am
So, I followed the Colton Church link over here to read about your ponderings and have concluded that I indeed concur with your thoughts and feelings on this GRACE and MERCY topic :D
And remembering that God has shown *me* grace and mercy (and He renews it every day), helps me to remember to do the same toward others…specifically the short people (even the one that’s 3 inches taller than me now) in my own home.
Thank you for these words of encouragement! And THANK YOU LORD for Grace and Mercy :D