Day 22 - Issue 27
Hebrews 13:9 NLT
So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.
In her book, Grace Without God (Harper), Katherine Ozment recounts how observing a Greek Orthodox Easter parade on her Boston street raised questions from her son. He asked what was going on. Katherine described the activity as a Christian ritual. When asked why their family did not do that, her instant response was that they were not Christians. Her son asked, then what were they, and she responded that they were nothing, which started her on the quest that gave birth to this book. She was uncomfortable describing herself, a lapsed Presbyterian, and her secular Jewish husband as “nothing”. She set out to find rituals to help her family navigate life, rituals that owed little to existing religious expressions but were primarily secular in nature. Hence the book’s subtitle, “The search for meaning, purpose, and belonging in a secular age”.
Her observations are interesting. Is it possible to ‘borrow’ from the traditions of Christianity to instil a sense of belonging and morality within one’s children? Or, by removing the authority of God from our world view, might we simply recreate a legalism that ultimately reflects nothing more than a temporary moment framed in our social history?
The truth about God’s grace is that it contains within it everything we need for life, a clear kingdom vision with an invitation to make healthy life- and time-style choices. Life’s many distractions, from wealth accumulation to the pursuit of our ultimate imagined ‘high’, are revealed as simply that – distractions. So it is incumbent upon each one of us to take decisive action to live by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).
There remains within each human heart an instinctive desire to realise some common virtues. Embracing God’s virtues as established in scripture takes responsibility from the hands of individuals to create their own.
You are not to surrender nor despair of the distraction of so-called secularisation within society. You are invited to live by God’s grace each and every day.
QUESTION: How do God’s values and virtues make sense in the context within which you live?
PRAYER: Father, teach me how to live well in this world so that others may see your grace.
