So what is grace? It comes from the Latin word gratus, where we get our English word "grateful". The shade of meaning of gratus is that of a undeserved kindness given to someone with gratitude expressed by the recepient.
Let's look at an parable about grace...the ungrateful servant.
28 �But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 29 His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. �Be patient and I will pay it,� he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn�t wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt could be paid in full.
31 �When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him what had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, �You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn�t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?� 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison until he had paid every penny.
The Father showed us grace by sending His Son to the cross while we were underserving sinners. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:10). The obedience which glorifies God most beautifully is that which grows out of appreciation for what He has done for us. The loving response to His grace is a spontaneous overflowing of devotion.
Let's pray:
Loving Father, thank you for adopting me into your family. I can never thank you enough nor ever repay you for your kindness, but please receive the service of my life as my ongoing thanksgiving for your grace and my small way of trying to share the love you have given me. Through my Brother and my Ransom I pray. Amen