Day 238- A Cash Register Line First

I went to Wal-Mart today.  As I was standing in the express line (20 items or less), the lady in front of me apologized that she had 21 items. That's a "first" right there. I've never had anyone acknowledge that they were breaking the rules.  My brain started scrambling for something to say in response to her.  I said, "That's OK. If God had enough grace to send Jesus from heaven to earth to die for my sins and be raised from the dead, I ought to have enough grace for you to go in front of me with one extra item." I explained grace to a lady in the cash register line for my "first."

She then mentioned that they could have other cash registers operating (completely ignoring what I thought was a pretty good reply). We only had that cash register and one other on our end of the store open.  Of course, the other one only had 1 or 2 people in line there. I told her that she did not have a lot of other choices other than the express lane.  About that time, a lady came to our line that only had about 3 items. So, the lady with 21 felt bad and offered the lady to go in front of her. Then she said, "I'll just go to another line." I told her that I really didn't mind her going in front of me. She was only one item over and I was not in that big of a hurry.  She said no, she would go to a regular line. I offered again to no avail. She felt better being a line for 21 items.  In the midst of that, I ended up with someone that chose not to be in my line invite someone to go in front of me.  How did I get cut in front of?

I thought about this as I drove home with my groceries (less than 20 items). The lady decided to follow the rules which is a good thing to do.  The truth is that none of us have ever followed all the rules.  All of us have done things that God does not like. We are all rule breakers; law breakers in God's eyes.  This puts us into a position of having to make a decision.  We can decide to suffer the consequences of our law breaking or we can trust God's grace that He's offered us through the sinless life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  If we won't receive grace, we have to walk away to suffer the consequences of our law breaking which the Bible says is death.  Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Praise God for His grace; that salvation is a gift.  We would all be hopeless otherwise. 

I've heard people say things like, "All I want is for God to be fair with me."  That's the last thing I want. I've sinned way too much and way too seriously.  Facing God in His justice is not something I desire for my future. I have chosen to trust in Christ and meet God in His grace.  Whenever we sing or read about grace, it really ought to cause a sense of absolute wonder that God would choose to offer us grace.  We can still refuse it and walk away. That's a decision I strongly recommend against.  Run to God and receive His grace.  Worship Him for His amazing grace. Let the truth of God's grace bind your heart to His.

Grateful for God's grace that makes abundant living possible
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. I can buy milk at the store and I don't have to milk a cow
2. People that were very nice to Joel today
3. Pest control