Openness to the Power of Grace (Friday, Easter 3, 2021)

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We were never created by chance. Every one of us was beautifully and carefully fashioned in the image and likeness of God. Having been tainted by sin and marred by human limitations, God continues to remold us into better creatures than we are. It is then a mockery of grace when people are disregarded, treated unfairly or looked down upon on account of their past, weaknesses, backgrounds or circumstances. 


Acts 9:1-20 tells a moving story about Paul’s conversion experience. Before his conversion, he was a great persecutor of the followers of Jesus. But by the power of God’s grace, he was fashioned into a veritable instrument of God. Ananias almost wanted to deal with him on the basis of his past. But Jesus told him, “No, don’t think that way! Paul has become a chosen instrument of mine.” What Ananias needed to do is to look beyond Paul’s past, and see the triumph of God’s grace in him. 


In John 6:52-59, we understand how difficult it was for the Jews to accept Jesus’ teaching that His flesh is food indeed. In their words they asked, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat? They were not able to look beyond the physical and see that Jesus is not an ordinary man but God Himself, the True Bread that gives life. Because they were unable to see beyond what meets the eye, many wrote him off and left Him.


When we learn to think outside the box, when we choose to be more open to other possibilities and to the potency of grace, when we begin to understand that there is more than meets the eye, we cannot but be more tolerant towards others and more positive about what God can still do in their lives and even in our own lives.


Prayer:

Lord, help me to be more tolerant, more accommodating towards others and more open to the dynamics of Your grace, Amen!


Have a blessed day!



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