Grace Cat (Part 2)

READ: ROMANS 3:20-24; EPHESIANS 2:8-10

Being adopted by my family wasn’t the only way my cat Oliver demonstrated a lesson of grace to me. You see, it’s common for cats to leave little presents for their humans. And, when I say “little presents,” I mean dead mice that we’d find just outside the front door. Cats leave dead animals to show loyalty to the humans that take care of them. How cute is that?!

As you can probably imagine, my family had no use for dead mice. But I can’t tell you how excited I was when Oliver began to demonstrate to my family that he loved us back!

That’s how God’s grace works in our lives. He pours out His grace to us. He’s the One who gives us every single blessing we have. And what do we have to give Him in return? Dead mice! Isaiah 64:6 says that all our good deeds “are nothing but filthy rags.” That means that the best we could ever give to God is still trash. Like dead mice.

But you know what? I still smiled when I saw those mice because they meant that my cat—the cat I adopted and named and loved—loved me back!

God offers us salvation from sin and death with no strings attached. I didn’t adopt Oliver because of anything he could give me in return. And even if he never gave me a dead mouse, I still would have adopted him. Our God treats us the same way. We don’t have to do anything to earn His grace, but, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we begin to respond in love at the heaps of grace God has dumped on us.

Going to church, obeying your parents, telling a friend about Jesus, working hard without complaining—those are all dead mice. They will never earn you eternal life; your relationship with God is secure because of what Jesus did.

Even though God doesn’t need our offerings, He still delights in them because they are gifts from His beloved children in Christ. And He is able to transform and use our dead mice in amazing ways for His kingdom! • Emily Tenter

• What are some examples of the “dead mice” you offer God? Do you ever compare your “dead mice” to those of other people? Why is that wrong?

• Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Ephesians 2:10, and Philippians 2:13. If the best gifts we can give God are still worth so little, does it matter if we give them at all? How does God empower and use our efforts in His kingdom?

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6 (NLT)