Grace

I went into Costco today with a letter sent to me waaaay back in September 2010 reminding me to renew my Individual Membership card.  I had put it off all this while because I was busy with work and also I didn't have anything that I needed to buy from Costco.  With the expired card I was still able to enter and eat at the cafe, their cheap jacket potatoes, pizza slices, hotdogs, shepherd pies etc etc, so there was even less incentive to renew it.  Haha!  I had just left the renewal letter sitting at the corner of my table for a good number of months.  In recent weeks I decided to make that move and renew the membership.  I went to Costco recently and saw stuff I'd quite like like the Leatherman tool, Maglite torch, TomTom, basically gadgety stuff.  However, without an active card I couldn't make any purchases.

Today after a driving test (of which the pupil passed!), I went to Costco with the renewal letter and the £30 renewal fee.  I walked up to the desk and told the girl I was here for renewal.  She keyed my information onto the computer and then after a short pause she said, "Oh, it has already been renewed."  I was quite surprised and asked her, "Already paid?  Oh, when was that?".  The assistant said something like the 12th of October.  What's more, it wasn't even at the Glasgow branch but the one in Edinburgh.  So now the card does not need renewing until end of September.  Wow!  I was very surprised at this news.  The lady collected my letter and I walked away from the desk with my reactivated card and was a little baffled.

This story reminded me of grace.  Grace is getting something you do not deserve.  Grace is getting something without even having to work for it.  Where have we heard of the word Grace before?  My earliest knowledge of grace came from the song Amazing Grace, with a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God.  Ladies and gentlemen, it is by God's grace that I am here today, that I can call myself a born-again Christian.  Because of God's grace I can live each day knowing I am right with Him and that He loves me regardless of past, present and future sins.  I am set free from guilt and condemnation.  I do not need to "do" anything to make God love me more.  I cannot "do" anything to make Him love me less either!

All this while, I had been thinking that I need to renew my Costco membership and thought if I didn't renew the membership I wouldn't be able to shop in Costco, and that if I entered Costco with an expired card I'd be 'living on the edge' that I might get caught one day.  I thought today if I renew my membership, if I paid the price then I'd be free from all that and I'd get my 'freedom' of full membership without any problems.  Then I found out at the desk that the price was already paid!  All this time I limited my Costco visits, I didn't do any shopping, all the hotdogs and potatoes I missed out on, it was all in vain.  The price was already paid and it was all for my taking, yet I was unaware.

Jesus Christ

In Biblical times many people offered sacrifices to God, they burnt offerings, they sacrificed their best livestock and fruits, they kept laws and rules in society and "worked" to gain God's favour, to have their sins cleansed away so they can be right with God.  These were in the so-called Old Testament times.  Then a man named Jesus entered the world. For over thirty years He lived on Earth among the humans and ate, drank, slept, walked and talked as a human being.  He felt the same emotions and temptations as humans did.  Yet He also performed miracles and healings which marvelled a lot of people.  He was not a magician or a miracle doctor.  He was God.  He left His Sovereign position and lowered Himself down to Earth to the point of washing His disciples feet.  But that was not it.  His mission on Earth was to be the ultimate sacrifice between man and God.  Once He sacrificed His life all barriers between man and God would be broken.  The gap between man and God would be abridged by the cross.  Yes, the cross, Jesus was crucified on a cross.  He was nailed to the cross through His two hands and His feet and was left there to die, until He breathed His final breath.  He paid the ultimate price.  From that moment onwards, the relationship between man and God was repaired.  We no longer need to sacrifice animals, burnt offerings etc to please God.  All we need to do to be right with God, to have the peace in our hearts each day, is to believe that man Jesus actually died for us.  If we truly believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus died for us and we allow Him into our lives as Lord and Saviour, this gift of a new life is yours.  This freedom from condemnation is yours.  You don't have to work very hard to please God, to make sure you get your place in Heaven once you die.  If you want this gift all you have to do is accept Jesus into your life.

Don't take my word for it.  If you have any queries, questions or uncertainties about Jesus, His life is recorded in the Bible and you will definitely find all the answers you need there.  As well as that, you can talk to Christian friends or visit a local church who would be able to explain more about Jesus to you and about the gift of life that He brings.

The good news doesn't end there!!  Jesus didn't just die on the cross and that was it.  The ultimate proof that He was God was that after three days, he arose from the dead and left to rock tomb he laid in.  He appeared to many people before ascending up to Heaven to be at the right hand side of God.  That's why Christians celebrate Easter.

It is coming up to Good Friday and it is a time for Christians to remember the death AND resurrection of Christ Jesus our Lord.  What are you doing this Easter holiday?  Will you be working making extra money?  Will you be on holiday and chilling out?  Will you treat this like every other holiday?  I will be reflecting and marvelling on the grace of God on my life and the love, the life, death and ressurrection of Jesus.

Happy Easter! =)