Daily Devotion - February 16, 2023

The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. (Exodus 34:6-7)

Sometimes we use catch phrases to describe the grace we require for a relationship with our holy God: We describe grace as a “pardon,” or “unmerited favor,” or “it’s not getting what you deserve.” But such words seem rare in the Bible.

So, it’s easy to draw a wrong conclusion —that grace is rare, or maybe the God of the larger Old Testament is very different from the Jesus we love in the New. The truth is that God is carefully developing our understanding of his grace through every phase and page of Scripture.

When God gives food to the hungry, rest to the weary, strength to the weak, warning to the wayward, mercy to the guilty, and hope to the hopeless – that’s the message of grace steadily unfolding and becoming more clear.

Ultimately, God displays grace whenever he provides good for his people that they cannot provide for themselves. That’s the grace fully revealed in Jesus, and always needed by us.

Prayer: Lord, your grace grows brighter and brighter until it shines perfectly in Jesus Christ. Help me to see that light when my weakness, waywardness, or difficulty makes my world seem dark – and help me to shine his light for others.