The previous week has been fun and busy with family visiting us for the Air Force Academy graduation of our niece, now a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force. For five days Carol and I hosted up to nine family members each night and enjoyed their visits immensely, something rare for us being this far from most of our midwestern family. The events included a big Saturday meal, Sunday Baccalaureate service (and another big meal), Monday Cadet Parade and picnic, Tuesday's host family lunch, Cadet Commissioning and dinner at the Macaroni Grill. It was all capped off with Wednesday morning graduation of 1020 US Air Force cadets, and (of course) a late afternoon lunch. Graduating from the AFA is hard on the waistline!
Sunday morning in the magnificent AFA chapel, we worshipped with a full house, and in his message the Chaplain said. "No matter who we are or what we have achieved, we are entitled to nothing. We are, however, privileged to receive God's grace and mercy in Jesus Christ." My niece stated it somewhat the same once when I asked her how her accomplishments at the Academy would affect her future in the Air Force. She said, "Uncle Bob, after graduation I'm at the bottom just like everyone else. What I did here will not affect how I am treated in the future. I'm on a level field with all my classmates."
This attitude is certainly not universal today. Far too many people believe they are entitled to all manner of special things in life just by being alive, whether or not they have done anything to merit them. While we Christians know we can never earn God's salvation, neither are we entitled to His mercy. Mercy and grace are God's gift to us in Jesus, gifts He chooses to give us. God's grace means there is no high or low ranking - we're all on the same level field.
Because of our sin we should all receive nothing whatsoever, and we are surely not entitled to anything special merely by being alive. God in His mercy chooses to give us the marvelous gifts of earthly life here and eternal life there because that's the only way we can have them. To presume we are entitled to anything special in life is a mistake.
In 1 Corinthians 13:10, Paul wrote, "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect." All people of the world, especially Christians, need to recognize we are what we are because of God's grace. As the Chaplain said, "No matter who we are or what we have achieved, we are entitled to nothing. We are, however, privileged to receive God's grace and mercy in Jesus Christ."
Great words to live by!
"DAILY WALK WITH JESUS", my Amazon Kindle book is available at:
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