Grace Alone

Thus did the children of Israel; according to all that Lord commanded Moses, so did they (Numbers 1:54)

In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6).

What caused Israel to turn,

in less than a generation,

from doing “all that the Lord commanded”

to the lament in Judges

“every man did what was right in his own eyes”?

Did the details
of their deliverance
from bondage
fall on dulled ears?

Did they tire of hearing God’s law,
and grow weary
of submitting their will
to His?

What robbed them of their love for God?

Or, who?

It frightens me to think
how easily their sin
could become mine,
how I could turn
from “all that the Lord commanded,”
to doing instead what is right
in my own eyes.

What protects us from the Thief?*

Grace alone.

Which is why,
with love - laced
purpose
mercy
and kindness
the Savior offers
day by day
His drink to the thirsty,
His bread to the hungry,
and His yoke to the weary –

that we might find life,
and not death.**

*St. John 10:10
** St. John 4:14; St. John 6:51; St. Matthew 11:28