In the beginning of one powerful letter written a long time ago it is stated that God’s grace is “lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” I heard it once described as akin to the way a child pours syrup over pancakes. We start to see the idea.
This weekend I heard this passage again and afterward, in sitting with it a little more, dug into the background of the word lavish. We know it means abundant and given without restriction. But it also has a Latin root that means “to wash.” As we receive God’s grace, there is apparently a cleaning and purifying that happens in the process. God, in His pleasure--which is noted more than once in the paragraph also, would choose such a way. He does not give begrudingly.
I was also struck by the other part of the phrase...that He gives grace “with all wisdom and understanding.” I don’t know about you, but I am much more inclined to invest where there is the likelihood that what I give will be received, appreciated, and beneficial. God, on the other hand, has so much for us that He keeps pouring and pouring without holding back. He knows our condition and doesn’t wait until we “get it” to give the blessing. He lets us swim in the ocean of His goodness, hoping perhaps that the gulps of it we inevitably swallow as we swim around toward other things, will affect us and increasing our appetite for more of what He is offering.
Grace...the gift that keeps coming. We can eat our spiritual breakfast without restraint and be cleaned at the same time. Gotta love God’s economy! It is inexhaustible. Sweet heavenly syrup. A mystery to discover, a feast to explore.
Photograph from morguefile.com by cheriedurbin
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