If you are at all like me, you have fond memories of going to school and wondering what was going to be in your lunch when it was time to eat. What kind of goodies did mom prepare for me to enjoy? Oh Boy, a tuna sandwich, and some chips, celery, and a Snack-Pak; I always loved Snack-Paks. Usually, there was a spoon and a napkin to top it all off. The point is mom gave us what we needed to make it through lunch period. It was all prepared before-hand to help us get us through the day.
In a sense, God packed our lunch too. God did not create us only to throw us into a barren, dry desert lacking resources. He gave us a rich, vibrant creation to serve our needs and provide for our welfare. He gave us trees to use for homes, heat, and cooking. He gave us crops to sustain our strength. He gave the Sun as light. He gave the atmosphere, and the oceans. He gave resources for transportation. He gave us everything we need to make a go of it, to get through “lunch period.”
What does that mean? Well, it means we have what we need to sustain life here on earth. Physical life is able to exist here because God has allowed it and created an environment that is favorable to it. Isn’t it just like man though to take the credit for it? We pat ourselves on the back for our ingenuity. We would never have the ability to take oil out of the ground and use it for fuel if God hadn’t put it there in the first place! We wouldn’t be able to make things out of steel if we didn’t have those resources tucked away for our use.
In the same way, God equips us to thrive physically, He ensures we are able to succeed spiritually. He has communicated a clear message of salvation through His prophets in the Old Testament, through His Son Jesus Christ, and through His apostles and His Spirit. God did not leave us lacking on either account.
Ephesians 2:1-9 says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
God, being rich in mercy and great love, gave us grace. The greatest gift of all that we have is the gift of Jesus Christ. But unless we have the gift of grace, we are not able to understand the great gift of Christ. God has given us all we need to be seated in the heavenly places. But how often do people feel we need to earn our way to heaven, strive, and beat ourselves up? Stop striving, and trying to earn your way to heaven. It’s a Gift! It’s Free! Accept it! And thank Him for it.
He had you covered all along; way beforehand, He knew what you needed. He packed your lunch. Open it up and enjoy His blessing!
