2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you  not to receive the grace of God in vain.

Grace. We sing about it and we thank God for it but what is it? Grace for the most part is a word thrown around that isn’t quite understood. So it’s no wonder that most of us do receive the grace of God in vain because we don’t understand it and so therefore, we don’t use it wisely.To use anything to its full potential we must know its purpose.

Grace in the American Heritage dictionary is defined as;

Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion.

A characteristic or quality pleasing for its charm or refinement.

A sense of fitness or propriety.

A disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill. Mercy; clemency. A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence.A temporary immunity or exemption; a reprieve.

So then does Grace mean God moves around effortlessly and so we shouldn’t receive it in vain? It could, I suppose, include this in that we shouldn’t take him for granted because he’s always there for us. Sure, we can be more appreciative and grateful for his grace.

Is it the sense of fitness or propriety? Well, it can be as well. We must always be reverent to the Lord. There is a certain way to approach him. He is after all the King of kings.

But here in this scripture and what I am blogging about today is the last definitions of; A disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill; Mercy; clemency; A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence; A temporary immunity or exemption; a reprieve.

See, grace is like that hall pass that you use to move from the classroom to the office without getting in trouble by the hall monitor. Grace is a favor God is giving you when he doesn’t have to. Grace is what your parents give when you wreck their car and they let you drive the only car left in the family when they didn’t have to. Grace is the credit card company accepting your late payment without interest or penalty.

When we get these kinds of breaks we should be thankful. It should cause us to be more careful the next time, it should cause us to think before we act. Too often though, the grace that God bestows goes unnoticed or worse, taken for granted. “I know I can sin and I’ll repent later because I know God will forgive me.” This is what it means to receive the grace of God in vain. It would be as if the thief, pardoned by the judge is free from jail time and goes out to rob again. It was a useless pardon. Better the judge would have saved his breath.Grace was not designed to illicit this kind of ungrateful, unrepentant behavior. Rather, grace was designed for acknowledgment of the wrong doing and a change in behavior. Repentance, is a turning away from the sin and a return down the right path.

Grace in its very essence empowers you to do what truth demands of you. Truth demands a righteous life, truth demands that you change the way things are done. Grace is freely given by God but do not mistake grace for weakness. Grace is anything but weak. It is a powerful tool that is bestowed to bring about a change. While God may grant grace, he doesn’t set out to fix you, only you can do that.