"Most of my life I heard the message loud and clear that Christianity was all about coloring within the lines and coloring well. If I was a good Christian, if I loved Jesus and wanted to please Him, if I read my Bible, prayed, and went to church, then I would get better and better at coloring. And if I lived a long and godly life, I would eventually be able to draw close to the perfect drawing.
"Wherever that message came from, it was a lie. I am 55 years old, and my coloring still looks like a two year-old's.
"I believe God looks at my coloring and says, 'Hmmmmm. You certainly like the color green! Lots of passion in this stroke. I like it.'
"Even as I write those words, I can hear the 'concern' of those who worry about others misunderstanding the gospel. 'You're not suggesting, are you, that nothing matters to God? Certainly, God has standards!'
"What I am suggesting is that God's grace is so outside the lines of our understanding that we can only stand in awe and wonder. Christianity is not about learning how to live within the lines; Christianity is about the joy of coloring. The grace of God is preposterous enough to accept as beautiful a coloring that anyone else would reject as ugly. The grace of God sees beyond the scribbling to the heart of the scribbler - a scribbler who is similar to the two thieves who hung on the crosses on either side of Jesus. One of the two asked Jesus to please accept his scribbled and sloppy life into the kingdom of God... and He did. Preposterous. And very good news for the rest of us scribblers.
"...The grace of God is indiscriminate, foolish, impractical, unrealistic, crazy, and naive. If God is not careful, people like you and me might actually believe Jesus Christ is winking at us.. just like a little child."
--Michael Yaconelli, from the book "Dangerous Wonder"
I love this book. I love grace. I hope you had a day of coloring outside the lines and enjoying the gift of life!
Megs
Things I am thankful for today:
1. Crayons.
2. Creativity.
3. Inspiration.
4. Team work.
5. Excedrin.
6. Mint Oreo ice cream.
7. http://www.wordle.net/
8. Plans for the weekend.
9. Baby bunnies.
10. My family's compassion for baby bunnies. LOL
spinach and artichoke pan pizza
5 days ago
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3 comments:
I forgot to do the senses thing yesterday, but I enjoyed coloring outside the lines today.
Absolutely love this post-and the "bunnies"--what are we going to do about them?? Getting very attached to those little ones, but I have a feeling I might regret it when they start munching on my garden!!!!
Meg, thanks for sharing these thoughts on grace. This quote speaks to some things I've been thinking about lately...glad to have this perspective too.
Have a lovely night!
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