Don’t you feel inspired when you hear a good conversion story? I know I do. Especially tales of how people overcame addiction or despair to find satisfaction in the presence of God. It’s the whole meaning of the hymn, “Amazing Grace”: “I once was lost but now I’m found. Was blind, but now I see.” The action there is from God, for it is he who finds us. He is the Good Shepherd who left the ninety-nine to find that one lamb who could never find its way on its own. It is through grace that we can even turn at all, and it is grace that will lead us home.
That grace appears when we give ourselves over to God completely. We give God our whole heart, mind, and soul and he turns that which was broken into something beautiful. I love St. Paul’s statement of faith: “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” Before that grace, Paul persecuted the followers of Jesus, and without that grace, he would have continued to live his evil life. To those who cannot understand how someone so horrible and full of sin can become a saint, his statement, in a way, alludes to the fact that he can’t believe it either.
When we, as disciples of Jesus, decide to live a stewardship way of life, it only becomes transformational when we offer everything to him. No one is saying you are living a life like the old Saul and you need to turn to Jesus. Hopefully you have already turned to him. But have you really let go of it all? Do you still think in terms of what is for God and what is for you? Whatever you still hold onto is worthless compared to the grace offered to you for giving it up. Don’t hold out any longer, for grace will lead you home.
Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS
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