Week 3 | Day 3 | Juice

Command:

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:44-45 (NIV)

Read:

“For from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.” John 1:16 (ESV)

Reflect:

There’s a local juice place I visit daily. Same order, every time: wheatgrass. It’s super gross, like licking-the-underside-of-a-lawnmower gross. However, it’s the nutritional equivalent of 2.5 pounds of green veggies, so I chug it down. Like all their regular customers, I am often given the extra juice from a batch, and it’s much more than I pay for 2 oz. for the 1 oz. price.

One day I went in to grab my juice and was not given the extra; the guy poured the amount I paid for and discarded the rest. I thanked him and headed out. And then I felt a little irritation rise. I thought, “How wasteful! I mean, if they were going to pour it out…” Then I felt entitled: “Who was that new guy? Doesn’t he know I come every day?”

Then God reminded me of the 99 percent of the time I do get extra and to flip my gratitude switch back to the “on” position. Sometimes we forget how blessed we are to be children of God. We can be so blissfully ignorant of the potholes we avoid by traveling the sure road with Jesus. 

Our bad days are not as bad as we think, and our blessings are greater than we give God the credit. We can tend to take His grace for granted. We must guard against overflow becoming entitlement — “extra” becoming “expected.” 

Remember: No one owes us anything. Jesus doesn’t owe us anything. He’s already given the complete gift, the whole of himself. Everything else is gravy. Or, juice, as it were: 2 oz. of life on a 1 oz. payment we couldn’t afford. “…for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” Romans 10:12b (ESV)

React:

Let’s chug our spiritual veggies by appreciating the blessings and protection God gives us every day. 

Pray:

Thank you, God, for how you cover me. Holy Spirit, help me be aware of your grace throughout each day.