Thought of the day
Most of us would rather hear that we just need a little help. Better habits. A few tweaks. Some good advice, and we'll handle the rest ourselves. Paul says the problem was bigger than that. We didn't need advice. We needed rescue.
"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us" (Ephesians 1:7). Redemption means you were stuck somewhere you could not get yourself out of, and somebody came and got you.
That word "lavished" is worth sitting with. Not measured-out grace. Not the bare minimum required to cover the debt. Lavished. More than the moment needed.
Here's where it gets personal. Most of us don't struggle to believe God forgives sin in general. It gets harder when it's yours, specifically, again. You lost your temper again. You said the thing you promised yourself you wouldn't say again. You went back to the same struggle you told God you were finished with. And somewhere under the surface is a quiet thought: God has to be tired of me by now.
Paul doesn't say we will have redemption someday, once we've cleaned up enough to deserve it. He says, "In him we have redemption." Present tense. Today. Not the future version of you who finally gets it together. You, right now, however, today has already gone.
This matters for your marriage and your parenting too. If you're only comfortable extending grace to people who've earned it, you'll run out fast, especially with the people who see you every day. But if you've actually received lavished grace, you have some to give away. Today, let redemption be the thing you stand on before you try to stand on anything you did today.