7-9-2018

Good Morning All,

    Romans 6:23; “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

      I would be one of the first to admit that my musical taste is somewhat eclectic. I enjoy the classics, old rock and roll, country-old and new, jazz, gospel and weird or strange or comical.  One of the more weird/comical sings is one called “Homegrown Tomatoes” by Guy Clark.  The chorus goes like this: 

Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What'd life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can't buy
And that's true love and homegrown tomatoes

    I always like that chorus.  Only two things that money can’t buy and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.  There is true in that.  If you buy a tomato, no matter who grew it, you have a purchased tomato.  If it is given to you, you still didn’t grow it at home.  If you think about it a little, it all makes sense, at least as much as it can.

    True love can’t be bought either.  That is something that is freely given.  You can purchase loyalty or even respect but you cannot buy, earn or even really deserve love.  True love is something that exists within your soul within your nature.  That is one of the greatest “natures” or traits of God; He is, by nature, a loving God.  He wants to love us and for us to love him.  That is why the gift of eternal life is freely given.  It is born out of God’s nature; his loving nature which desires us to be his dear children.  It is born out of his desire for us to return to him and to be faithful to him.

    That is something that many of us struggle with.  We cannot seem to understand that we cannot do anything to earn or deserve salvation.  It is freely given by God.  We don’t go looking for it; we don’t seek it out; we don’t figure it out; we don’t have a sudden thought and decide to follow Jesus; we are completely incapable of that.  All we have is God’s true love, given to us freely by a loving, gracious and merciful God.  The fact is we don’t have enough to ever pay for our sins.  We don’t have enough money, or tears, or good works.  We lack what we need.

     That is why God’s true love is such a wondrous gift and really beyond our imagination or understanding.  How can God truly love us, even when we daily turn our backs to him, how can he can continually forgive us and call us back into his presence?  We cannot explain but we can believe it; we can trust it with our lives because this is the only hope we have.  We only have his grace, freely given to us by a loving God.

 Father of all grace, you freely give us salvation and guard us by your Spirit.  Strengthen us to see that it is only by your love that we are saved.  Help those who are still struggling to see your grace and to trust only in your promise.  Lead them by your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,                                  

Pastor Bret