Motivated by Grace

READ: Ephesians 2:1-10
It is by grace you have been saved.

So, what gets you up in the morning?

If you are anything like me, certain projects and activities put your limp body and mind in gear and cause you to move with unbridled energy.

Some people’s palms get sweaty and heart rate increases at the thought of the Detroit Lions football team. (This is still a mystery to me.)

And others’ voice-pitch rises as they talk about their work, their dreams, their careers, their hobbies, their family, or their investments.

Thinking about some of these activities stimulates and pushes us to give our best and be our best.

What motivates us to serve God week after week? What stimulates us to give Him our best in every activity? Well, the Bible gives us a wonderful motivation to serve—grace.

Grace means God giving us a gift we didn’t deserve, eternal life (Ephesians 2:5), so that He could make us into His own people—examples of the incredible wealth of His favor and kindness through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:7-9).

We were dead in our sins. We once followed the alluring but deadly music of the world’s system. Our minds were blind to the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We lurked and lived in the dark alleys of religious curiosity, self-deception, and gross immorality. Can you believe we lived like that? Yes! Because we lived like that, by nature we were objects of God’s wrath and judgment.

I am so glad the story doesn’t end there. In Ephesians 2:4, Paul said that God’s rich mercy made us alive with Christ. God released His wrath on Jesus at Calvary so that we wouldn’t have to experience it. We are saved and set free from our sins by God’s wonderful grace through Jesus Christ. We owe Him our lives.

We are His masterpieces in the world, created in Christ to do good works that God prepared in advance for us to do (v.10). Our life should be a walking “thank you letter” to God for His immeasurable love toward us.

As you serve Christ by serving others, remember how God has liberated you from sin, and let grace motivate you. —Marvin Williams

REFLECTION

• How often do I think about what Jesus did for me on the cross?
• Why am I serving God? Is it because of a sense of duty? Being manipulated by someone? Trying to impress?
• How does my attitude need to be different about serving Christ?

Make your life a thank-you letter to God.

campus journal