Lent

Christ died to rescue those who had sinned and broken the old agreement. Now he brings his chosen ones a new agreement with its guarantee of God's eternal blessings! - Hebrews 9:15 (CEV)

 

When we bought our home in the Springbrook Community of Alcoa in June 2015, the purchase included a home warranty. Great, we thought, this provides some peace of mind! However, the benefits of the agreement left much to be desired. When one day a major appliance needed repair, then another day there was water where water shouldn’t be, and later one room in our home was 15 degrees hotter than another room, we were disappointed to discover that the fine print of the warranty casually mentioned none of these issues were covered.

 

Unlike our home warranty, Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice has no fine print. Christ died to rescue those who have sinned. That’s all of us! One of the many things I love about the United Methodist Church is that communion is open to anyone and everyone in need of God’s grace. There is no fine print, no list of criteria, no legalistic qualifications needed to receive the sacrament. This verse tells us that Christ brings us a new agreement with a guarantee. This guarantee of God’s eternal blessings is much different than a one-year (or even an extended!) warranty. We can have peace of mind and rest assured that our Wonderful Counselor will remain steadfast, faithful, and righteous. I invite you to consider your acceptance of the Divine’s offered agreement, and how you might choose to share God’s love with others today.

Let us pray: God of the covenant, thank you for the guarantee of your eternal blessings in Christ Jesus.  In gratitude, may we be moved to share your love with others.  Amen.

Today’s devotional was written by Crystal Irwin and read by Amy Large.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.