I woke up one morning recently with a struggle that I’m not sure I ever had before: I was pondering all that God has done on our behalf through Jesus and wondering if I’m faithfully walking out my gratefulness for the magnitude of what that gift that He acquired for me. It’s not that I thought I needed to repay Him, it’s just that when I thought about the lengths the Lord went to secure my salvation and eternal life, I wondered if I was taking hold of all that He had for me? 

If you’ve been a Christian for very long, you probably have heard that our faith isn’t based on works, but our works show that we have faith. (This is discussed in the book of James) That can actually get a little confusing at times. I have even heard it explained, believed myself and told my children that we show our gratitude for all He has done for by doing what’s right. I’m sure there is some truth to that, but it can be really easy to transition from there into a mindset of “repaying” God for all He has done. It only seems to make common sense, right? Well, not completely. We are told over and over again in scripture that our faith is based on grace alone. It is secured by grace alone(Ephesians 2:8,9). So how do we reconcile some of these other thoughts that seem to resonate so much with logical thinking?

THESE are the thoughts that were flying around in my mind in no particular order and with no answer in sight. So I did what I often forget to do: I asked God what the deal was. How does this all fit together? How do I, in the words of Paul, “Lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me”? (Phil. 3:12)

(To read the rest of the devotional, please go to durendawilson.com OR you can listen here!)