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Radical Grace Leads to Radical Loving

     “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table. Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” 2 Sam. 9:7-8 (NIV)

Dear heavenly Father, what a great and gracious God you are. We have much in common with Mephibosheth. Though we’ve never been “dead dogs” to pity, we have been dead in our sins and trespasses, utterly shut up to your sovereign grace. And you, who are rich in kindness, poured measureless mercy upon us—raising us from the grave of our sin, hiding our lives in Jesus, the Beloved.

Truly, Jesus is the greater Jonathan. For Jesus’ sake, you have been extravagantly generous to us. Because of his finished work, you have lavished your welcome and love upon us. Our hope is built on nothing less, nothing more, and nothing other than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. The gospel is true, Hallelujah, the gospel is really true and actually this good.

And now, Father, you don’t merely endure us; you enjoy us and greatly delight in us. May this good news radically impact us; may it free us from our crippling insecurities and our lingering shame, from our ever-present pride and our joy-sapping fears; from our selfish ways and self-absorbed days.

And since loving well is the clearest evidence of our “getting” the gospel, increasingly free us to love to your glory. May the gospel be so “in play” in our lives that we’ll be more intrigued with people, and less irritated by them; more accepting of them, and less guarded around them; less resentful of their weaknesses, and more engaged with their brokenness. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ exalted and worship-worthy name.

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