If ever

If ever there was a girl who needed grace, it would be me.

If ever there was a person who deserved a big 'ol slap upside the head from the Almighty, it would be me.  Multiple slaps.  Daily slaps.

Instead of the slap I deserve, I receive the grace I so desperately need.  I believe in that still, small voice because it speaks to me.  He speaks to me through His Word, through the people He has given me, through the endless tender patience of the man who puts up with me, through a vision (if you will) that showed my unorthodox family, through blood and marriage and divorce, covered in a sweet blanket that fell from Heaven.  The blanket was Grace.

This week He spoke to me through the sermon on Sunday.  Pastor Ray preached a fine sermon on the parable of the talents, from Matthew 25.  The points:

• The talents were given according to ability.  The master knew what each servant could handle, and gave accordingly.
• The word talent originally meant "balance," as in a scale.  Over time it came to be a standardized weight.  One talent equaled 6,000 denari.  One denarius was equal to one day's wage.
• The master did not tell his servants what to do with the talents he gave them.  He left that up to each individual.
• The first two servants doubled the money they were given (5 talents and two, respectively).  They were each given more.  The third (one talent) buried his in the ground.  The master used the word lazy to reprimand the servant.  The word "lazy" is translated from a Greek word that means "to hesitate."
• The lazy servant tried to excuse his behavior (or lack thereof) by saying that he was afraid.

Pastor Ray then asked me

What would you do for God if you weren't afraid?

Remember:

Whatever you've got, it's not yours.  It belongs to the Master.

What you've got, it's a lot.  Do not dismiss what God has given to you.

God blesses obedience.