As we exit the season of chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chicks, clean up the kitchen and put away the Easter clothes…looking back, what we just celebrated was forgiveness…God giving us more than we deserve…the definition of grace.
What if we chose to live this way? What if we consistently gave those around us more than they deserve? What if we saw them through the lens that Jesus sees us? What if it was against our code of conduct to be offended by how we are treated? What if like Him we kept quiet?
Would we get taken advantage of? Maybe. But what if we lived more concerned about the hearts of those around us rather than what we thought they deserved? What if we saw them as our God does: souls searching for meaning, purpose, and their Savior?
Would we walk by our neighbors differently? Would we stand in line differently? Would we treat our own kids differently? I believe we would. I believe we would live more like the people that in our heart of hearts we actually want to be, and not just for today. I believe we would live differently forever.
If we could live as keepers of the message and tenders of hearts…we would love with open hearts and open hands. What if we lived for decades this way, exuding grace? We would lay aside our expectations of the people around us because we would see them for who they truly are and what we all truly are: souls searching…longing to be restored.
If we set each other free from the traps of today, if we hold loosely and look at each other as souls searching for their Savior, I believe we would live differently. I believe we would live free. The free life is living in the overflow of free flowing grace, what I have so richly received and did not deserve.
This is what I want to carry with me from Easter: Grace. I want to exude grace and the One from Whom all grace comes. What I want to carry is nothing more than the overflow of my God, and that is when the joy of Easter will last forevermore.
