Hands Full of Parcels

"A Man whose hands are full of parcels can't receive a gift."   - C. S. Lewis

Romans 4:13-16 (ESV)
¹³  For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
¹⁴  For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
¹⁵  For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
¹⁶  That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all...



The last four days have been best described by the word "fatigue".  It's not an uncommon word in our vocabulary.  Listless, tired, sore.  1300 miles of car travel, being sick, not sleeping well, and eating poorly all add up to the word - fatigue.  
Someone once said we are a tired generation.  A tired society.  We run a lot, multi-task, and dream of time, peace, and an un-harried life.

Interestingly God built into the life of His Nation - Israel - a Sabbath...and a year with 7 week long celebrations where they did not work...and a Sabbath year every seven years where they did not work their fields...and a Jubilee year every 50 years where they re-set all of life, returning it all to it's original format...no ongoing debts, just the realization that everything is from God and therefore we are stewards of His creation - people of His grace.

There you go...GRACE...it's the antidote to a busy life that is full of constant fatigue.
Grace is the substance that makes the difference from a life trying to do all the right things, and knowing that we screw up and fail more often than we want to.
Grace is the answer to "if I can't do good all the time, does it mean my faith is not real?"

Ephesians 2:8 (ESV)
⁸  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 

In 2010 the world hung on the news of 33 trapped miners in Chile (remember?).  Trapped some 2000 feet below the surface, they made a decision - "we will ration what we have, wait, and pray".  They could do nothing from below...everything depended on those up top.  The Chilean rescue team worked around the clock for two months.  No one knew what they would be the end result...but they all acted in trusting the outcome to God.  The day came and the capsule was let down into the tunnel, and when it arrived on the surface they began to emerge with high fives and shouts of joy...families hugged and spouses kissed.

All had different stories but all had made the same decision - they trusted that someone would save them.  No one said, just give me a drill, I'll get out myself.  They knew that someone else would have to penetrate their trapped lives and pull them out.  When the rescue capsule came to them, they climbed in.

That's Grace!

Jesus is our capsule, climb on board!

Peace