Trophies of Grace

All through the centuries, God has put some of His people on display. In the Bible, there are Abraham, David, Esther, the twelve apostles, Stephen, Paul, Lydia, and scores of others. That is one of the reasons we read the Scriptural accounts: to see how this Christian faith works.

There were early church fathers: the “honey-tongued” Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and others; there were some “mothers” too, but we know very little about them. Much later some of the heroes were Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale, John Bunyan, and many more. We read of their remarkable achievements for the sake of the Gospel, and we are challenged and encouraged.

Modern times have given us Fanny Crosby, Billy Graham, the five martyred missionaries to the Huaorani (Auca) Indians in Ecuador, Mother Teresa and others that you might recognize even more readily than these. The common thread throughout is that they were or are living examples of the grace of God.

You and I could very well be on someone’s list. They are watching to see, “How does this faith thing work?” “What does grace do, anyway?” We’ll likely not write famous doctrinal theses, preach to tens of thousands, or die with an arrow in our heart. But for someone, we are the ones God has put on display to demonstrate His grace.

There will be, some day, an even grander display when God showcases what He has done in the lives of those who follow Him. “He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6, 7 NLT) Can’t you just see it? He points to you or me, and says, “We worked together, she and I, and see what we did!” Or “I’m so proud of him! He was worth the investment.”

“Look at them all! They’re My trophies. We won!”

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com