"But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9
I really like pistachios. It is one of those foods that tastes great, but there is a little bit of work involved in eating them. Well, for some people this might not be true because they buy the unshelled kind of pistachios where there is no work involved in separating the shell from the nut. But if you buy the ones still in the shell, you probably know exactly what I mean when I say separating the shell can be work. Some of those shells are widely separated and the nut can be very clearly seen - making it easy to separate the shell and the nut. But then there are those hard to crack nuts, the ones that are barely separated in one little spot on the seam of the shell.
In fact, it was just today I saw my wife do something I didn’t think she would ever do. After trying to crack open one of those slightly open pistachios, she gave up on the nut and put the shell and the nut back in the bag. Unfair, that’s just unfair. Now I am going to have to deal with that one.
But you know the irony of the story is on my next handful of pistachios I got three freebie nuts. A freebie is one of those pistachios that is no longer in the shell. Basically, it is naked. There is no work involved. Here is the point: it was by grace and mercy that the little nut was set free. It was great eating those three freebies. A great gift. It made me think of sharing something about God’s freebies.
God’s grace and mercy are freebies. We don’t deserve to have those gifts. Grace and mercy are often appreciated after a troubling time. But today is a great day to stop and thank Him for some of His incredible grace and mercy gifts- how about forgiveness, a respiratory system in our body, a muscular system, a skeletal system, photosynthesis, the sun and rain, or even free air. Then there are those precious things that Gods prevents from going bad like plumbing, electricity, water, other working body systems, and our car.
We don’t deserve any of these things and yet God is always good and blesses us - and these are just a few of the examples. Let’s get creative for one minute and thank God. In fact, use your name as an acronym and find at least one thing for each of the letters of your name and thank God for it.
