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Grace...
I have shared
previously about one of my car restoration project: my 1956 BMW Isetta.
Shortly after I obtained the car, I had been put in touch with a man named
Jim who owned several Isettas and had a shop not far from my home. It turned
out that Jim would not only become and valuable resource on the help I needed
on my car, but he would also teach me a valuable lesson about grace.
In the corner
of his shop he has a huge compressor and a media blast cabinet. If you have
ever restored an old car, you know the value of one of these blasting rigs
for removing all the rust from small parts. He told me to bring over some of
my pieces. Almost every part that came off my car was covered with 50 years
of rust and it was hard to tell if any of the pieces could even be used.
I brought over
a sorry looking box of parts and started blasting off the years of rust. It
was on a hot day and the sweat rolled down my face stinging my eyes and some
of the fine silica media escaped from the cabinet’s seals and made my skin
itch. It was a lot faster than using a piece of sandpaper or chemicals to
remove the old layers of paint and rust but it was definitely hard work.
After a while, I was beat and told Jim I would be back the next weekend to
work on the rest of the parts. He told me just to leave the box of parts
there and if he got some time he would work on them a bit.
Much to my
surprise, when I showed up the following weekend for my next session, I found
all the parts that I was ready to work on were already finished. I knew from
the little bit of blasting I’d done that these boxes of completed pieces
represented many hours of work that Jim had done while standing at that same
hot and uncomfortable blast cabinet.
My first human
reaction was that I needed to return the favor. But I had nothing that Jim
needed nor was there any real way to pay back this debt. In fact there was a
lot more of his expertise and parts that I would need from him as I continued
the work on my car. Why had he done all this work for me? He barely knew me
and there was no way I could repay him. Then I realized that the unmerited
favor he had bestowed on me was not because of what I could do for him and it
was not about who I was, at all. It was about who Jim was. It was a
testimony to Jim’s character. This gift from Jim was an initial glimpse of a
man that I know better now, several years later, as a kind, giving, and
benevolent person.
When I first
responded to God’s love, I could scarcely believe what Christ had done for me
by dying on the cross. My initial human reaction was one of trying to figure
out how I could repay Him and then I realized I had nothing He needed. God
sent His Son because of who He was and not because of who I was or what I
could do for Him. The truth be told, I was in fact needy and required more
of God’s favor and grace each day.
Yes, I could
try to live for Him and do the things that were pleasing to Him, but these
were things I needed to do them for the right motives – out of love. To do
them out of a sense of duty, or obligation, or in trying to repay Him was not
the correct motivation.
Eventually I
realized that there was only one thing I could do and that was to say “Thank
You.” As Paul put it so well in 2Cor. 9:15:
“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
Richard Lewis
Pathway Christian Cruisers
Pathway Christian Church
Riverside, CA
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