It’s such a shame. We allow ourselves, when any blessing goes to eleven, to lose sight of the blessing it was at one. We are rightly amazed by His redeeming grace, that saved a wretch like me. We ought also be amazed by that grace that we dismissively call “common.” It is a good thing to distinguish these two kinds of grace. A bad thing to lose sight of that which they have in common, unmerited favor.
As I type I am chewing a bit of dried mango. I confess that, because it’s been coated with a bit of sugar, that it’s not a kale salad. Neither, however, is it a hot fudge sundae. It brings various nutrients into my body, fueling me for part of the day. But it is also delicious, delightful, divine. No it’s not God. But it is His gift, which I do not deserve. Unmerited favor, available for believers and unbelievers alike.
We not only could, but should, catalogue the innumerable such gifts we and our unbelieving neighbors enjoy. Sunshine, songbirds, and sweaters. Air conditioning, antibiotics and aluminum. Barbequed meats, boiled peanuts and baked brie. And like a jaded and sullen teenager we walk through this cornucopia of pleasures thinking nothing of it. We’re so busy grumbling about what we don’t have we miss out on what we do have.
What is heartbreaking is that we, recipients of His redeeming grace, are nearly as likely to miss His common grace as those who receive His common grace alone. Romans 1 reminds us we in our natural state do not acknowledge Him nor are we thankful (1:21). Despite being indwelt by His Spirit, we carry this sin into our new life in Him.
We are numb, dull of senses. We are dwarves in paradise who think themselves locked in a dark and stinking stable. The God we by nature flee from, hate, refuse to acknowledge, feeds us, cares for us, gives us life that we might heed His call to repent. He gives us snowflakes and raindrops, blue skies and cool breezes, sunrises and sunsets. He gives us sushi and ice cream, sausage and farm fresh eggs.
We who have received His redeeming grace have also received a profoundly potent invitation. He invites us to ask Him to bless us with wisdom, and gives to all liberally without finding fault (James 1:5). So let’s ask Him for the wisdom to see and give thanks for all that He has already blessed us with. For the wisdom to keep ever before us the shame of what we have earned, and the abundance of what we have been given. May our very faces, beaming with joyful gratitude, be the very light that draws in those who were chosen from before time.