“For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.”–1 Corinthians 15:9-11
We make mistakes, and participate in ungodly activities. We fall into sin, veer away from God’s path, and sometimes forget God’s commands. Yet God has provided His undeserved favor for us. He offers us grace even when we sin.
Some people enter Christianity thinking it’s a “cure-all” for temptation and sin, but the truth is that once someone is saved, the devil targets them even more with temptation! But God has provided His grace to help us when we fall, to give us a clean start.
Imagine grace this way: each morning we start our day with a clean slate. We haven’t sinned, strayed from God, or gotten into any trouble yet. But each time we do sin, our slate is dirtied. A little attitude here, some rebellion there, and our slate is soon covered in ugly marks. Yet when we repent of our sin, God’s grace comes down like a magic eraser and wipes our slate perfectly clean. He offers us forgiveness and a fresh start despite our failures.
No matter how many times you fall away from God, He will always forgive you. God doesn’t want you to live in sin, so He offers His grace to give you a clean start each time you turn to Him. What a great attribute of God for which you should be thankful.
If it were only up to you to keep a “clean slate,” how would your slate look? None of us are perfect; we all fail to always live like Christ. Yet God extends His grace to us and offers us another chance to live for Him each time we repent of our sin.
Take time right now to thank God for His grace. If you need your slate cleaned, repent of your sin and seek God’s grace. Don’t ever take for granted the fact that God gives you a new start whenever you need it.(Paul Chappell)
