’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Amazing Grace
By: John Newton, 1725-1807

Listen as you read.  This version is from Sacred Piano by Paul Cardall.

So I ask you to consider if grace had lost any of it’s preciousness since you first saw it.  If it has, do not feel badly.  This happens to each of us to some degree because frankly, we are not obsessed with grace like Gollum was obsessed with his ring.

A Love-Hate Relationship

Gollum is a character from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings who finds a magical Ring which transforms his life.  Part of the transformation is that it extends his life long past natural limits, which is the upside.  The down side is that centuries of the Rings’ influence twists Gollum’s body and mind until he has a curious love-hate relationship with the Ring he refers to as “My Precious”.  There are some interesting parallels to consider between Gollum and his Ring and us and grace.  The main difference is that they are essentially opposites of each other with the ring destroying Gollum while grace saves us.

As I reflected on the words of this stanza, I was struck by the writer’s preoccupation with grace, evidenced by the use of it three times, once in each of the first three lines.  Gollum is preoccupied as well, but obviously not in the same way.  His fixation on the Ring might just be instructive for us when we think about the transformative power of grace in our lives, both body and mind.

You see, grace changes our lives.  Part of that transformation is that it extends our lives long past natural limits, spiritually speaking, since eternity is a really long time.  The influence of grace twists our bodies and minds into what becomes for many of us a love-hate relationship.

We are thankful for the transforming power of grace, but it’s presence illuminates the struggle between good and evil that exists within each of us who have tasted it.  I think Paul put it best when he said this in Romans 7:18-19, “¹For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”  This is part of a larger passage which illustrates this struggle.  See Romans 7:14-24.

We love grace, but we hate what it shows us about ourselves.  Embrace the grace of God in your life again today and the power it provides not only to deliver you from your fears, but from your vices as well.  Take a few moments and think about what grace has revealed to you that needs transformation.  This exercise will help you begin the process of restoring a proper view of grace as precious.

My Precious

Interesting word,  “precious”.  It is what brought Gollum to mind in the first place since this is not really a commonly used word today.  When something is highly esteemed for some spiritual, nonmaterial, or moral quality it is said to be precious.  That said, what could be more precious than grace?  It becomes for us, like Gollum’s ring, the one gift that rules them all.

Grace essentially is getting what you do not deserve.

The Ring basically transforms Gollum into the worst imaginable version of himself, whereas grace does the opposite for us by making us the best version of ourselves.  So I guess the question that is haunting me is how can we become as obsessed with grace as Gollum was with his ring so that it can have the equal and opposite effect of transforming us?  Is the secret in the fixation alone? Using grace in three out of every four texts we send, or Facebook/Instagram posts?

No, it can’t be that simple.  Or can it?  Maybe there is something about the preoccupation that does have a transformative effect.  It makes me think of Isaiah 26:3. “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

What better thing to trust in than the unmerited favor of God made accessible to us through the finished wok of Christ on the cross?  Allow your mind to rest on God and His grace.  Take a few moments now to ask Him to restore your view of His grace to what it was when you were first overwhelmed by it.

Holy Spirit, remind me today of just how precious grace is.  Take me back to those first moments when I surrendered to Your grace.  Usher in the peace that comes when my mind is resting on you.  Help my thoughts routinely return to a sense of wonder and awe that can transform my life.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

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Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

Amazing Grace
By: John Newton, 1725-1807

Listen as you read.  This version is from Sacred Piano by Paul Cardall.

Not to mention, wretched.  Oh how soon we forget.  Or at least try to, but why?

Lost

I do however remember the time I was in Kansas City.  Lost in Kansas City.  And it was in that era before you had a bevy of digital maps in your pocket.  You know how it goes, made a wrong turn, ended up miles from where I meant to be long before I even realized it.  It’s dark, and I was in an unfamiliar place with no real prospects for finding my way.  My fellow travelers began to get visibly concerned.  I quietly reassured them with a confidence that was frankly incongruous with the concern my face undoubtedly revealed.

What is it about admitting we are lost that is so difficult?  What is it about admitting we can not see ourselves or our situation for what it really is?  What is it that enables us to forget, even after learning it is indeed the case, that we are in a really bad way, with no hope of correcting the situation?  What is it?  Simply put, PRIDE.

Pride is essentially a feeling of deep satisfaction derived from one’s accomplishments.  “I’m not lost.  I can see well enough to get out of this.  I am not in too bad of a position here?”  Humility is the antithesis of this.  It allows us to hear and voice a different perspective.  “I am lost.  I can not see how to get out of this situation.  I am in a terrible situation with no ability to help myself.”

Found

It is the sweet sound of grace that allows us to hear these two tunes clearly, and not just at the start, but all along the journey.  Grace is getting what we do not deserve.  Grace allows us to realize how lost we are, and that there is a way out.  Grace enables us to identify our inability to see things clearly if at all, and then restores our sight.  Grace empowers us to stop trusting in ourselves, and shows us the One we can.

I remember praying as I drove those dimly lit Kansas City streets, “God, show me a way out of here.”  It was not long after that we came around a corner and there in the distance I saw an overpass.  It was my way out of the scary scenario I had fallen into, and was trying not to admit.

How often God provides the clarity to see our situation and a way out, and we fail to acknowledge it?  What in your life is causing you to look for an overpass?  Are you willing to ask God for it today?  He is gracious, and wants to show you that again today if you will only ask.

Take a few moments and honestly answer those questions.  Those answers may be the very things that will help you get moving on your journey to be resonant, echoing the reality of Christ in your life again today.  Or maybe for the first time.

Jesus, thank You for helping me to hear the sweet sound of grace.  I want to align my life with it again today.  Help me hear the still, small voice of Your Spirit instructing me where to go so I can find a greater place of resonance with You.

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O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
By: Robert Robinson, 1735-90

Normally “getting carried away” is when you are so excited about something that you can not control what you say or do.  While that should be true of us when we think about the end of this age and the dawn of the one to come, I wonder how often that can be said of us, that is, “Every time she starts talking about heaven she gets carried away.”

In our text we have a very different kind of carrying occurring.  We are praying and asking God, as a matter of the will, to send His angels to transport us from this existence to the one for which we are longing.  In particular, it is actually the great and final carrying away that Robinson is referring to here.  That “carrying away” which ensures  the ransom of my soul from the judgement.  Regardless of your view on the millennial reign of Christ, the real question is, “Are you ready?”

Ready or Not, Here I Come

“Prepare like Christ will not come for some time, but hope it is today.”  That is a phrase I remember hearing early in my journey with Jesus.  It acknowledged a tension that is felt by most who realize they are living between the two Advents of Christ, the one we celebrate at Christmas, and the one we are waiting to happen, His Second Coming.

I really think that tension is felt by anyone who has read and prayed the words of John in Revelation 22:20, “Come, Lord Jesus.”  It exists because even though we want Him to come today, we realize there are many who are not ready for His return.  We long for the endless days, but we struggle with the fact that many will only know endless nights.

We see the turmoil of the world around us and long for another time and another place.  We are waiting for our inheritance to be realized, for the reward of our ransom to finally be ours.  The Father is counting down to that Day when either He takes me to be with Him, or He sends His Son to get me.  I need to make certain I am ready.

Getting Ready

Even as we long for that Day, we can have a peace that we are ready.  It all hinges on two words, “sovereign grace”.  Grace simply means getting what I do not deserve.  Grace that is sovereign would be grace that has supreme of ultimate power.  That is where my trust is, in God’s supreme and ultimate power to give me what I do not deserve.  Through His work on the cross, Jesus made that available to everyone living under these dark skies.  Simply confess your sin, your need of a Savior, and your desire to trust Jesus only to make you right with the Father.  Then you will be ready to get carried away.

Lord Jesus, help me to be ready for Your return.  Until that day, help me to trust and walk in Your sovereign grace.  I long to be carried away to endless days.

What part of being free from sinning is most appealing to you?  Please comment below.

Podcast, Come Thou Fount – Episode 1.5

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