Daily Devotion for April 24, 2024

 

Devotion:

For an audio version of this devotion, click here.

Read 2 Timothy 1:9-10.

There’s a whole lot of good news in these two brief verses! It is the Apostle Paul’s testimony of God’s grace through Christ Jesus which Paul has received! And now, Paul is encouraging young Timothy to not be ashamed to proclaim the gospel—for the Lord’s sake or for Paul’s sake. At the time of his writing, Paul was a prisoner in chains for the sake of the gospel. It’s understandable that Timothy would need this encouragement from Paul.

Verse 8 leads us into verse 9: “...by the power of God, who has saved us…” Paul is helping Timothy and us today realize that God is the giver of all GRACE. Grace proceeds out of God’s own heart and is given through Christ Jesus even before time began. And now this grace “has been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” And God’s power through Christ “has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

Grace is defined as the unmerited favor of God….and an important phrase in these verses is, “not because of anything we have done, but because of God's own purpose and grace.” The NRSV translates it, “not according to our works but according to God’s own purpose and grace.”

Grace is a gift which God offers to us to receive. Grace is offered and freely given to all without exception. It is up to each individual to receive this gift from God through Christ. This grace is freely given, but it is not cheap grace. It is God’s gift of sacrificial grace which God initiated through the gift of Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. Therefore, we are called as Timothy was called to be witnesses of this blessing of grace through repentance and faithful discipleship. We can let our lives be living testimonies of God’s saving work of grace through Christ, by offering, through words and actions, God's grace to others.

Personal Worship Option:

John Newton, once the captain of a slave ship, realized the depth of his sins and when he realized the depths of God’s grace, wrote the song, “Amazing Grace”. The words of the last stanza are: “When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.”