"To me, though I am the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Ephesians 3:8
In Ephesians 3, Paul tells us that even though we are the least, God's grace was given. This verse hit me hard this past Thursday at my college bible study. And when I say it hit me hard, I mean it smacked me right across the face for me to see what was and always will be right in front of me. God's grace. His never-failing, unending, satisfying grace was given to me and you even though we are unqualified. We don't deserve even the smallest drop of the grace that was so graciously given for us.
God looks at us as if He is looking at Jesus. He sees precious children made in the image of His son. When God looks at you and I, He sees a saint that is going to preach to the "Gentiles". We will be absolutely nothing in life but lost, unless we truly accept the grace that God has given us. We are called to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. Yes, you. You are called to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. His riches are unsearchable because we will spend our whole lives searching for Him. And only through Him will we find our answers in life. Through God's grace, we, the unqualified believers, will find our hope and purpose through Him alone.
We all have our struggles. We all have the time when we feel hopeless, lonely, sinful, hurt, or damaged. God doesn't see you and I that way. God sees the broken as new goods. He doesn't see the damaged goods that we believe we are. He truly meets us right where we are, and He loves us. Through God's grace, he will bring our burdens into the light. All we must do, is lay our burdens down before the Lord, and He will set us free. Rest in His promises.
Let this revelation not only flood into your mind, but ultimately flood into your heart. God's grace empowers us to be bold Christians with crazy faith. We are called to act on our faith, not to become complacent in our faith. God gave us his empowering grace to preach for His glory alone. As the Psalmist in Psalm 139:23 prays "Search, me O' God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!", we too need to desperately ask God to search our hearts. When we ask our all-knowing God to search our hearts, we accept the grace that was set aside for us, the unqualified.
I owe a big thank you to Justin Abercrombie from Connection Church in Statesboro, GA for speaking these words so clearly not only into my mind, but most importantly into my heart.
