“Come, let us return to
the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but
he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he
will restore us, that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the
earth.”
(Hosea 6:1-3)
For although they knew
God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their
thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21)
In
Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Sam shared with us about sensitizing grace (prevenient grace). He reminded us that God
created man to be in fellowship with Him as Creator: instead, man chose to be
selfish, placing his own desires above the relationship with God. Our pastor
noted (paraphrased here) that as a result, the
world we live in suffers the agony of being ‘out of sync’ with the God who made
it.
God,
though, remains gracious. Though we do not have the capacity to recognize our
need for Him, we nonetheless have the benefit of His prevenient grace. God has
stepped in to do what we cannot do for ourselves. Pastor Sam gave a succinct explanation
that waxes creedal, that we can perhaps even memorize: God gives us the realization that what we are doing is not what we
should be doing. That is the essence of sensitizing grace: it is a kick-starter,
a first pass at rescue, for persons who have no idea that they are in danger.
As
with most creedal thought, though, there is an undercurrent of warning in this ocean of
love from God. If we continue to ignore God after having been made aware of our
need for God’s love and God’s leading and God’s law, then His grace will be
withdrawn. I would encourage us to take time today to re-read Romans chapter 1,
which we reflected on during the sermon. As we read, let us pray that those who
have been made aware of God’s sensitizing grace will not resist it, but will
respond in obedience to His word.
The
LORD of all glory, the Lord who
loves us even though we wandered far from Him, has made provision for us to return to Him. Thank You, Lord, for Your sensitizing grace.
All
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica,
Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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