Undeserved

I was walking behind them in the direction of the cash registers.
I heard the woman who was close to my age call the other woman, Mom.
The woman who was close to my age had a full shopping cart of clothes.
The woman she called, Mom, had clothes in her cart as well, but it was not as full.

I only had two things in my hand.
Around the holidays, this store will have a red velvet rope.
The rope is used so that a queue is formed.
I was wishing for such a rope except there is no need for queue formation in the summer.

There were five people ahead of me.
The cashier was gracious but the people she was waiting on did not have their charge card.
They wanted her to look it up so they could get the percent off that this store usually gives.
The cashier was having trouble finding their account.

The woman who was close to my age remembered that she never stopped to look at shoes.
The mother was very willing to get out of line and go with her daughter.
The daughter decided not to get out of line and lose her place.
We can look for shoes another day, the daughter said.

I saw a man who looked like a manager walking around the store.
He saw the line that was forming at this cash register location.
He rolled his eyes and muttered something through a headset.
Within minutes, a second cashier came to another register.

The daughter instructed her mother to get into that line.
They each were the next person in line at their respective registers.
The mother began to lift her items from the black shopping cart this store provides.
She turned and looked at me and looked at the two items I had in my hand.

You go ahead of me, she said sweetly, I will be a while.
Are you sure? I asked her.
Absolutely! I am with her, she said pointing to her daughter.
I think we will be here for a long time, the mother said looking in her daughter’s direction.

Thank you, so much, I said to her.
In no time, my two items were rung up and bagged.
I left and tapped her on the shoulder thanking her again.
Her kind gesture made my day.

At the food store, I was putting the groceries in the back of my car.
The man who brings the carts back inside was gathering the ones in the parking lot.
He saw that I had lifted my last bag from my shopping cart.
I will take that for you, he said as he wheeled my shopping cart away.

Two times in the same day, I was the recipient of undeserved blessings.
They were not requested.
They were not sought after.
They were freely given and gratefully received.

Undeserved blessings make you feel as if you want to do the same for someone else.
Some may call it paying forward.
I call it extending grace.
By definition, grace is unmerited favor.

Grace, what a wonderful word.

From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. (John 1:16)

I drove home smiling.
There was nothing I did to earn the favor bestowed on me on two separate occasions.
I was literally just standing there.
A sprinkle of grace washed over me.

We enjoy it when things like that happen to us.
The danger, if those things happen often, is that we can get a bit puffed up.
We can begin to expect a sprinkle of grace.
We can begin to feel a bit entitled.

The only response to grace is gratitude.
The only response to grace upon grace is awe.
The only response to the gift of grace is to extend grace in return.
Can you imagine what the world would be like if we did just that?

And if by grace, then it is no longer by works, if it were, grace would no longer be grace. (Romans 11:6)

Grace is never deserved.
Grace is never earned.
Grace is a gift.
Grace costs the giver something but costs the recipient nothing.

It would be a mistake to have a mental clipboard to keep track of grace received and bestowed.
That mental clipboard will keep score after a while.
Received grace: check.
Bestowed grace: check.

That kind of clipboard system, with its lists and charts, turns grace into works.
When that happens, grace ceases to be grace.
Put away the clipboard.
Thank the giver with a sincere heart; extend grace to someone else, unplanned.

The Giver gave a Gift that cost Him everything.
The Giver, God the Father, gave His Son, Jesus to die in our place.
That grace should astound us.
That grace can never be repaid.

What do you do when you are the recipient of such grace?
You thank the Giver with a sincere heart.
You are overwhelmed to be the recipient of such an undeserved Gift.
You are so grateful that you heart overflows.

That overflow becomes grace extended.
That overflow becomes a sprinkling of grace toward another.
Grace given, grace received, grace extended.
Can you imagine what our world would be like if that was the pattern for our lives?

Grace upon grace.
What an amazing way to live.
It began with God the Father when He sent His Son.
It must continue with us.