We all admit that we have received blessings from God, and it is good to remember our blessings. What should be our response to His many blessings?
“As God’s fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.”
“As God’s fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.”
God will not force Himself upon us but offers us a choice. He gives us understanding, blessings, and light to equip us to receive His "grace." The ultimate grace is the sacrifice of his Son on the cross for me as payment for my sins. God offers this grace of eternal salvation, but we must intentionally receive this grace by faith.
God also shows His "grace" in that he allows us to live each day and draw breath moment by moment. God's many graces to us include blessings of freedom and health, family, sustenance, and more than we could count. You think our response would be gratitude and devotion.
No one can force us to do right by God, but the Apostle "urges" us to not let God's grace in our lives be in "vain." Vain could mean something that has no substance or that is pointless. It is an insult to God’s mercy and grace that we take all these blessings and squander them on our own agenda, whims, and pleasures. We casually take from God and give little or nothing back and even demand more. If we behaved this way in society, we would be charged with embezzlement or larceny.
God’s blessings of Grace are to enable us to be His "fellow workers," what an honor! The angels are never called God’s fellow workers, but sinful man redeemed by the blood of Jesus is brought into a true partnership with God. Yet we who are made in His own image and redeemed by the sacrifice of His Son just go our own way and ignore the awesome privilege of serving His Kingdom.
Since God has given so much to me, does He do wrong to ask a response? If God has given me blessings and I squander them, then I am spending God's grace in vain. If I am saved and live only for myself, I am living in vain. If God has given me a calling and I fail to respond, I am living in vain.
I pray that I do not respond to God’s grace with a cavalier attitude but reverently choose to follow the light he has given me. May I never receive God's blessings in vain, but instead, use them to serve as one of His "fellow workers."
(c) Adron 3/24/10
