More Difficult Than It Has to Be - Martin Wiles

God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8 NLT

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that earlier. I made it so difficult,” my wife said.

A friend and I lounged at our favorite fast-food restaurant, shooting the breeze while our wives walked to a nearby retail store. My friend had lost a lot of weight due to recent health problems and needed a pair of pants that fit him.

Our wives soon returned and plopped down beside us. Mine immediately took out a fingernail file and began working on a pocketbook that looked unfamiliar. It should have because it belonged to her friend, not her. The fabric had caught in the zipper and stuck fast.

After the nail file rendered unsuccessful, my wife asked for my pocketknife. She cut a few slices to no avail. After ten minutes of struggling with a stubborn zipper, she inserted the fingernail file between the zipper, and it immediately separated. With a sigh and laugh, she realized how difficult she had made something so simple.

On the other hand, my friend and I thought of God’s freeing grace. Paul had experienced it, taught it, and lived it. He was a legalist to the core before meeting Christ. His life had been about following all the rules, even those Christ hadn’t given. Now, it was about freedom.

Grace is freeing, just as the contents of the pocketbook were by the separated zipper. My wife attempted to approach the problem in the usual way—unzip the zipper—when all she had to do was open the pocketbook another way.

Grace is the other way . . . the only way. When we place our faith in Christ, his grace forgives our sins and frees us from their chains. Now, we can do what we couldn’t before: obey His commands.

Grace, however, isn’t a license to live recklessly. We misunderstand grace if we think we don’t have to worry about sin anymore because Christ has forgiven our sins. When we understand what grace cost God—the life of His Son—we’ll want to please Him by staying as far away from sinful and spiritually harmful situations as possible. Like soldiers in sync, we’ll march to the tune of holiness.

If you have experienced the freeing power of God’s grace, show your appreciation through obedience.

Father, thank you for making it easy to run into your loving arms. 

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