I heard giggles. Loud giggles. I was curious, but almost didn’t want to know what they were doing since they were obviously playing well together. But I just had to know what they were doing that was causing so much laughter. So I decided to peek in and that’s what I saw. Chico and Mediano laughing like crazy, throwing diapers up into the air. The now empty diaper baskets off to the side, abandoned. So I did what all good moms do. I ran for my phone to take a picture. Then I made them help me pick them up and separate them by size.
A few hours passed and the diaper incident was pushed to the back of my mind. Cleaned up and forgiven. And Chico and Mediano got ahold of the baby wipes.
They pulled out a few each and went about cleaning windows, tables and just about everything they could find. They even cleaned the cabinet they had pulled all the diapers out of earlier. It seemed as if they had decided to make amends for the mess they had made. They took it upon themselves to “work off their debt.”
But in reality they had no debt to work off. Their “transgressions” had already been forgiven. Grace had been poured over the situation. And they were cleaning just because they wanted to. When I praised them for it they grinned big and scrubbed harder. They weren’t working out of guilt after all. They were working in joy.
How do we work in things of God?
Do we hold on to the thought that serving Him will earn our forgiveness? Do we serve in the secret hope that in doing so His grace will be more abundant towards us, even when we know that His grace is not dependent upon what we do, but on the sacrifice He already made?
Or can we serve freely?
Working in joy, grinning big, and scrubbing harder.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
3 comments
Renee says:
November 23, 2011 at 4:39 am (UTC -6 )
What a sweet metaphor, and your little ones are adorable! I’m so glad that God sees me as His precious child and gives me grace again and again. Thanks for sharing this.
Alida says:
November 23, 2011 at 1:49 pm (UTC -6 )
What sweet images and a great lesson for us all!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family,
Alida
Denise says:
November 23, 2011 at 9:24 pm (UTC -6 )
Wonderful post.