Bonus Day 53
Don’t Receive Grace In Vain
Read 2 Corinthians 5:16–21; 6:1–2
As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 Corinthians 6:1
What a haunting sentence! In 2 Corinthians 6:1 Paul says he fears that the Corinthians have essentially received God’s grace “in vain”; that is, they believe in God’s grace for themselves but apparently it is not changing their hearts to the point they are willing to extend grace to another.
What about you?
Are you still stingy with forgiveness even after it’s been richly lavished on you? Are you secretly annoyed that God will probably forgive someone more easily than you might? Is there anyone you’d be angry to see in heaven? Anyone who hasn’t done quite enough to receive your mercy?
Max Lucado tells the true story of Kevin Tunell.
Convicted of manslaughter and drunken driving after killing a 17-year-old girl, Tunell served out his prison sentence and even campaigned against drunk driving. But the girl’s family subsequently sued him for precisely $936… to be paid one dollar at a time. This strange-but-true judgment calls for a check to be written by Kevin every single week for eighteen years. Every week he writes the check, puts it in the mail, and the family puts it in a scholarship fund. Why? Because that’s exactly how many weeks — 18 years’ worth — the girl he killed was alive.
Saying he’s haunted by her death through these weekly reminders, Tunell has offered the family boxes of pre-written checks containing all 18 years’ worth of payments, but the family has refused. “We want to receive the check every week,” the girl’s mother says. “We will go back to court every month if we have to.”
So… when you’re hurt, how many payments do you require?
How have you responded to your biggest hurts?
Why would someone who has received God’s grace be stingy with grace toward others?
Is there anyone to whom you need to risk some radical grace?
Ask God to help you not receive His grace in vain. Ask Him to help you know how to show radical grace to others in a way that is wise and godly.
