Seize the Moment – Day 476
From Grace Flows Good Works!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, July 6.
When my kids attended preschool, it was a big deal when they were the class line leader. It meant they got to go first. In the Christian life, there is always a designated line leader.
Grace goes first! The work of God precedes human efforts. God rescues us to live our lives for Him, solely by His choice and apart from our merit.
It has always been this way. Exodus 20 is an important chapter in the Old Testament because it contains the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Listen to the first words of God to Moses in Exodus 20:2, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
Before God gives the Law, He reminds them that He is the One who rescued them. Grace led them out of Egypt and across the Red Sea and to Mount Sinai as a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. Grace came first!
The Ten Commandments were not the means by which they came into a right relationship with God, but the signs of their rescue by the God who rescued them.
The same principle of grace is true for us today in Christ!
Paul explains this clearly in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
God’s grace frees us from sin, for good works!
Seize the moment and rest in the unforced rhythms of grace. Invite Jesus to lead your life today.