The Sensible Thing to Do

Grace is all we've got. Thankfully, it's more than sufficient. Should it, though, get no further with us and have no more impact upon us than giving us a perpetual get out of jail free card? Is the human race, including Christians, nothing more than incessant cosmic recidivists? Does God long for more than that in his gracious heart or is his grace merely a means of looking past the nature of the beast?

The answers to such tough questions may be disturbing to us who have come to depend on being graded on a curve. Knowing the stripe of our own skin, we may feel safer letting things alone, unprobed, at the unlocked cell door on our way out. Put it all down to grace, and move thoughtlessly on to the next offense. Quick, convenient, and beside, plumbing any further can only reveal nothing but hopeless sludge. Grace is all we have.

Yet, the Bible is filled with directives telling us to get our acts together and move on with God: press on, put off, make every effort, guard, stand, fight, don't lose heart, etc, etc, etc. Are those real directives, spoken with the expectation of compliance, or are they nothing more than decorative hooks to hang grace macs on? Can God be that lame?

Walking takes two legs. Whereas we are hobbled and could get no where by our own efforts, we do not seem to be considered immobile by the God who comes alongside and helps. His Word to us is "move." In light of his assistance, it is only reasonable to expect a difference in us--in direction, in attitude, in action, in lifestyle. Resting in God's mercy while moving forward into holiness is, truly, the sensible thing to do.