The Unforced Rhythm of His Grace

I’ve been pondering God’s grace a lot lately, and came across this passage in my daily Bible reading today:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11: 28-30, The Message Version)

If our faith is in religion, we will get burned. If our faith is in meetings, we will tire. If our faith is in leaders, no matter how good, we will wear ourselves out.

But faith in God is something else entirely. As we keep company with the one who made the stars. As we speak with the one who spoke first. As we walk hand in hand with the Son Who Came, we are refreshed.

The Hebrew word for grace in the Old Testament is ‘Chesed’. It has the feel of being delivered from our enemies, of being protected, and guided; being free and forgiven.

In the Greek of the New Testament, the word for grace is ‘Charis’. Such a beautiful word. It speaks of salvation; of God doing for us what we could not do on our own.

Who persuaded us that this changes and we can ‘do things’ when we get ‘saved’? Who suggested it was to do with work, with hours spent, with money given or with services provided? It’s not. It’s grace. It’s pure grace.

Pure grace.

I don’t deserve my relationship with God, but he reached out to me in grace. He protects; He guides. He sees what we can’t see down the road and he delivers us from our enemies.

And if I understand this, I can indeed work, give, serve… but from a walk that is in the ‘unforced rhythm' of His grace. And that’s just beautiful.