Grace
(Adapted from Daily Devotional—jtdyer)
The story is told of a young man who left work early so he could have some uninterrupted study time right before a final exam in religion class. He studied all night. When he arrived at class in the morning everybody was cramming as much last minute info as their minds could handle. The teacher walked in and said, "Let's do a quick review before the test."
They followed him through the review that was laid out on the study guide. As he covered item by item he finally jumped to issues the young man had never heard covered in class. Several hands went up, "We never had that information before." The teacher picked up the text book and held it in his left hand and said, "Everything is in the book and you are clearly responsible for everything in the book." Who could argue with that!
Finally it was time to take the test. The assistants passed out the test and the professor said, "Leave your test face down on the desk until everyone has one --- I'll tell you when to turn your paper over and start." Two minutes later the class heard, "OK, you may start."
When the young man turned his test over, every answer was filled in! A note at the bottom of the last page said: "Your Final Exam is now over. All your answers are correct. You are blessed with an 'A' on the final exam." Every student read the same thing and looked up at the professor in utter astonishment!
When the professor was sure all eyes were on him he said, "You passed the test for one reason only --- because the creator of the test took the test for you. All your study time, class time and hard work in preparation for this exam did not help you get the "A". You have just experienced --- GRACE." (Titus 2:11-13 - 11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,)
Keep the faith for God is on our side! - Joe
