“The Big Relief [Grace] reverses the order of belonging. In a setting of grace, belonging precedes behavior. It comes first. Jesus often showed people favor before they made the smallest overture toward him. I think of the calling of his disciples James, John, Philip, and Nathanael. I think of the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethsaida (John 5). Most of all I think of a chief tax collector like Zacchaeus, whom Jesus approached and then invited himself to lunch with (Luke 19:1-10). Grace makes the first move.”
—David Zahl in “The Big Relief”
My prayer this week: Thank you, Father, for making the first move. For loving me while I was yet a sinner. For dying for my sins — for your resurrection … so that I, too, could have new life. May I follow in your example, leading with grace first in my interactions with the lost and broken world around me, that others may come to belong in your family.
