Hebrews 13:9
Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so.
I love this sentence, “It’s good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.” I normally wouldn’t associate strength with grace. Our culture wouldn’t list grace under strong attributes. Most would list courage, independence, responsibility, … as strong. Why does grace strengthen? The foremost picture of strength and religion in the news is the ISIS soldier. They are so devoted that they are willing to leave their homes and kill for their faith. Religion on it’s own wouldn’t come up with grace as a concept. These soldiers deny all sorts of pleasures. Their religion has much reciting of prayers, fasting and all sorts of denying. The munks of the Middle Ages seemed equally fixated on denial as duty to God. Religion is seen as what the faithful must do to be devout. Grace is wildly different as it’s what God does for us. Eph 2:8,9 says, “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.…” Christianity is the only faith with makes it free; independent of our deeds. This is what makes the difference. The human heart is so bound up with obligation and “earning favor” that we aren’t ourselves. Grace gives rest. This makes us strong. Partially because we can finally rest and breath our thanks. It doesn’t stop at salvation. It’s not like we got the free ticket to get in, now let’s get busy. Sure we have actions, but they spring from our “want to”. Because we’ve got this new heart we want to do what He wants. This is more grace; He gives us His desires. This is very different from the concept of “hard work pays off”. That’s true and biblical, but it’s different from grace. When the human heart receives God’s unconditional love, it flourishes. Like Miracle grow to a plant. When this acceptance and approval is given to us daily, we grow in a way that nothing else can prompt. Thank You, God that You grow us up in this “most wonderful” of ways. Thank You, that Your mercies are new every morning.