Grace

Something happened to me early this morning. I was given a gift by a total stranger. Today's story is about just what it means to give and receive.

As many of you know I love to play disc golf. I run local tournaments and leagues, I teach classes and design courses. Disc golf is part of who I am.

We disc golfers have an app for our phones called UDisc. UDisc is amazing. It keeps track of all of our scores, the courses we have played, and it can tell you where every disc golf course is on the face of the earth!

Well, it was time for me to renew my membership so I followed the link in the app. I was given several payment options, all of which included  giving my credit card information to Google. I really didn't want to do that so I sent them an e-mail asking if I could just send them a check.

This morning I checked my e-mail and there was one from a nice man at UDisc saying that he decided to simply decided to extend my membership for another year. For no reason other than he was feeling like doing something nice that day.

His gift got me to thinking. What grace had I extended to anyone lately? Have I given anyone a gift without thought of reimbursement or recognition? Have I shown compassion for someone I don't even know? All of these things are examples of grace.

Grace-filled gifts are given freely but often they come at a cost for the giver. My UDisc friend's gift cost him an annual renewal fee. He was willing to give up an some income by casting a seed in hopes I would bring in MORE income.

"He has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time," - 2 Timothy 1:9

God has extended grace to all mankind. It is a free gift. All God asks of those who accept His gift is to extend grace toward others by spreading the word about His son Jesus. God's grace cost Him plenty - His one and only Son.

And how do these gifts make me feel? Grateful. Wonderfully grateful. God's gift of grace makes me eternally grateful. It makes me want to spread the word of God's amazing grace. Have you accepted God's amazing gift of grace?

Amazing Grace - Judy Collins