Every life in this world needs it, regardless of money, home or city. Everyone needs it, no matter who they are or where they are spiritually. Everybody needs a touch of grace.
Sure, that’s easy enough to say—grace comes from God. Everybody can get all the grace they need from Him. But can they really? The Bible says in Acts 1:8 that “we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us.” The simple fact that we receive power from God alone represents an act of grace in itself. But more than just that, being filled with the Holy Spirit shows that we have been filled with grace to give as well.
We were created to be in constant companionship with God. The original purpose of our creation was to be in the constant presence of God, knowing that He desires us. God’s wonderful desire was giving His grace to us.
Many times, we think we can live without God. Yet we seldom see the grace of God surrounding us, enveloping us. When something good happens, we call it a coincidence. But the word coincidence can be broken up into “co” and “incidence,” and we all know that it takes a minimum of two to be a “co.” And in many of our “coincidences,” we just don’t see God in the picture. That’s where His grace steps in to remind us that He has flooded our lives with His love so that we might be alive today.
A lot of people in the world are oblivious to the grace of God surrounding their lives. That’s where God intends to place us, amongst their ranks, so that we might be the “fragrance of life” as 2 Corinthians 2:16 says. And that’s where we need to have that touch of grace.
There is a need for us to realize today that people don’t need our pity. They don’t need us to give them a sympathetic look. They don’t need us to give because we feel sorry for them. They don’t even need us to feel all excited and happy for them all the time. And they certainly don’t need us to be their heroes or saviors. What they need is encouragement from us. What we can offer is the grace of God in our lives. They need us to treat them in such a manner that the grace of the living God can be seen without us uttering a word about being holy.
2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” The word “favor” there could also mean grace. We could rephrase the verse to say, “Now is the time of God’s grace …” We need to open our eyes to the urgency around us. We need desperately to see through God’s eyes. But if we don’t open our own eyes first to see the pain around us, we will never be able to fully understand the times that we are living in. Ephesians 5:15-16 reads, “Be very careful then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Grace needs to be founded in wisdom. Wisdom comes first and foremost from the fear of the Lord. Living a life that is in reverence and honor to God allows that touch of grace in our lives to overflow to others.
Everybody needs a touch of grace. Everybody. Even our words need to be “seasoned with salt,” or rather, seasoned with grace. We need to know that every word that comes out of our mouths cannot be retracted or taken back completely. No doubt it’s hard. But aren’t we filled with the power that comes from heaven that allows us to be His witnesses all over the world? Aren’t we a people that have been set apart for Jesus and promised to be heirs with Him? It’s amazing sometimes—that God will open our eyes, by His grace, to see His grace.
Let’s ask to be filled with that power so that others might not only come to know Him, but so that we may see Jesus in every person. Let’s choose to bring a glass of living water to every life out there. And let’s be reminded that these people don’t need our pity; they need our encouragements, our love and our touch of grace.
[Keith Woo is 20 years old and is studying psychology in Malaysia, where he’s also from.]
