A few years
ago, a first grader and I fell down a step on a field trip. I was holding his
hand and we were going down together. Well he hopped right up and I stayed
down. I'll never forget what he said, “Let me help you up. That must have hurt
you more because you had farther to fall.”
While I was
studying the final words of Ephesians, I was reminded of this helping hand.
May
God's grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians
6:24
That word
for grace is so very meaningful and carries more significance in Greek than we
give it credit for in English.
The Greek word for grace here is “charis.” Charis in its expanded meaning is;
- A gift or blessing brought to man by Jesus Christ
- His favor as He leans toward us to help us in our earthly situations
- Christ freely extending His help and love toward those whom He favors
- Christ giving himself away and reaching for us
As I
incorporated this meaning for the word grace, I began to really realize the
reach of Jesus’ love to me. And it’s a long way down to reach me because
usually I fall farther into sin than I want too. And I imagine Jesus reaching
down with love to help me up and out of the mess I create and saying, “Let me
help you up. You must be hurting because you fell so far.”
And as the
end of the verse infers, this is the reason I can't help but give Jesus my love
in return. As He leans toward me I want to lean toward Him. As He reaches down
to help me up I want to confidently place myself in His forgiveness. The
farther I fall, the farther His grace reaches.
I pray this
Ephesians prayer for myself:
My Gracious God, reach down and help
me up.
Bring Your blessings down as You lean
toward me with aid in all my situations.
Let me not forget Your favor.
Thank you for Your precious gift of
forgiveness.
I love You.
And this is
my prayer for you:
May God’s grace eternally reach down
and help you up.
May His blessings be brought to you
as
He leans toward you with aid for all
of earth’s situations.
May you realize His favor toward you.
May you accept His precious gift of
forgiveness.
May you always love our Savior, the
one who helps you up.
No comments:
Post a Comment