“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6 NKJV)
Solomon states that there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3): A time to be born, die, plant, harvest, heal, tear, sew, etc. The times are always changing in some sense, but never changing in another. The same writer said “There is nothing new under the sun.” The times they are a-changin now. Certainly diseases have come and gone since we left the Garden. No generation was ever free from them. With all of our advancements in medicine and wellness, plagues like smallpox and cholera are virtually unheard of in the United States. We are tempted to feel invincible, in control. Yet something new always arises to vex us, to shake our confidence. Each one brings us back to the reality that we are not in control; our confidence was a self-deception. For all of our learning, progress, might, and wisdom, another tiny agent too small to be seen or heard or tasted brings us low.
Many now give us instructions and guidance on how to conduct our physical lives. God tells us to be wise, so be wise and listen to good advice in that arena. I don’t have anything to offer there. In the spiritual arena, the times call for that which is always called for: grace. To be a gracious people is to be a godly people. We thrill at the grace God has shown us in the gift of His Son. But God’s grace is not meant to stop with me; it’s meant to flow through me to others, a sort of grace conduit or pipeline.
God’s grace extends to us that which we need, though we do not deserve it. God demonstrates it in that, while we were “yet sinners,” Christ died for us. Grace does not excuse sin; it provides what the sinner needs. A gracious person then does not withhold
the good until a person changes, straightens up, or meets my standards or thinks like I do.
Grace makes room for others because they are God’s children.
Some things to remember:
Grace is given as a gift, it is not earned and cannot be compelled
Grace always transforms relationships
Grace costs the giver and enriches the receiver
Being gracious in our relationships, in word and, in deed, is always a critical need. Homes are transformed by grace; it is in my opinion what spouses need most from each other. In the Body, it is also crucial if we are to be what God calls us to be; if we are to have a vital impact on this community. And it is what we need at this time also.
So while the world turns, let us take a moment and consider how we can be the gracious people we are called to be. May God richly bless you.
John Ostic