Isaiah 55:7

“Let the wicked forsake his way,

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

Let him return to the Lord,

And He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.”

This has been the hardest one so far for me to write about. Grace has never been something I've harped on. My youth pastor back home would preach and preach about grace and it would bore me to pieces. He never shut up about it. For most of my years in high school I had a very platonic relationship with the Lord. Like I've said before, I bless him, He blesses me. The problem with this ideology is that Grace and Mercy is completely exempt. I saw the Lord as my business partner, we were selling products that save souls and I was his salesman. Learning the product, coming up with clever sayings, presenting in a savvy way, and eventually getting my cut at the end of the day. When people would stop to say “how does it work for YOU savvy man?” I would stop for a moment, compile all the other accounts and say “It's changed the lives of so many people.” Well that's just the problem salesman, you only know how to talk about others conversions. What about your passion salesman? What about your relationship to it? The light behind is eyes were absent. Isn't is so noticeable when a pastor is personally on fire for the Lord compared to the ones who just preach it? For me Grace was the missing link. When Grace is understood the salesman realizes he does not own the product, he is owned by the product. When I realized that need for 'abundant pardon' everyday and that I was wicked and needed to turn to God daily my salesman title became a title of shame and disgrace. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Christ was the ultimate example of Grace, and I learn that a little more everyday. I see now the maturity in my youth pastor's walk, he fully grasped this idea and let it own him everyday. My application today is to be remember that I am owned by Grace.