‘Good, you?’ ‘Good’
When we greet each other, it’s easy to use casual, throw away language that we don’t really mean. People say things like, ‘Hey, how you going?’ ‘Good, you?’ ‘Good.’ We’re not really asking how people are. We don’t want their life story, it’s just an extended hello.
We can make the same mistake with Scripture. At some point in the greeting of each of Paul’s letters, he includes the words grace and peace. They appear so often, it’s easy to skim over them. To assume there’s nothing really there. But rather than an extended hello, these words are laced with meaning.
Grace is God’s great enabler. I love this word and I know I talk about it a lot. But that’s because it’s so important and appears all the time. Grace is the way God works out everything in your life as a free gift. It’s the way He chooses you, justifies you, equips you to serve Him, changes you to be like Him. It’s the way He’ll raise you when Jesus returns. Grace is how God does everything in a way that comes our way for free.
Peace is another rich word. Peace is the condition of perfect prosperity and security. It is everything as it should be. It’s the condition of the world our souls long for and that Jesus is bringing about. It’s the state of our relationship with God. And whereas earthly peace is fleeting, God’s peace in your life enables a calm to resonate deep in your soul even when all around you is in turmoil.
It’s hard to imagine Paul could give a stronger greeting. It’s hard to imagine praying a more powerful prayer for one another. In fact, it’s the prayer I’ve been praying for our church this week. May God work powerfully in each of our lives as a free gift. May God give you a glimpse of the world to come in the inner recesses of your soul. I wonder what you’ll notice as God answers this prayer? I wonder what He’ll do as we pray it over one another.
Grace and peace,
Simon
This post is part of the Senior Pastor’s weekly blog. Go to the blog feed >>