In the 12 century Bernard of
Clairvaux wrote these lines which are now part of the hymn “Wide Open Are Your
Hands”: “Open wide your arms, a fallen world embrace, to win to love and
endless rest our wayward human race.
Lord, I am sad and poor, but boundless is your grace; give me the soul
transforming joy for which I seek your face.”
Bernard was totally captivated in this hymn with the grace of God. The boundlessness of God’s grace should
indeed captivate every redeemed heart and mind.
A few years ago we had a very wet
summer. A friend of ours had her
basement wall cave in due to the excessive hydraulic pressure. I asked if her insurance covered it. The sad answer was that it did not. Comprehensive insurance isn’t always very
comprehensive. I asked our insurance
agent if we were covered. We were not. Now we are, but it cost us extra to do
so. Our insurance is now more
comprehensive, but I am sure there will be holes in it that we will only find
out in a catastrophe. It is sad to
expect something and then to discover that it isn’t really covered after all.
That does not happen with God. His grace is boundless. It is comprehensive. His grace covers all. If we honestly assess how much we had
offended God before we came to Him as Savior, we would realize that we had a
debt too big to pay. If we honestly
assess how much we have offended the laws of God since we came to Him as Savior
we would only discover our utter unworthiness to still be called His
child. But God’s grace is
comprehensive. It covers all. It forgets our past, forgives our present and
forecasts our future hope with Him in heaven for eternity.
Bernard’s response to this boundless
grace was a heartfelt cry to have his whole mind and heart caught up daily into
the acute awareness of God. In response
to this boundless grace Bernard offered up the greatest sacrifice he could give
– himself. Meditate today on the last
lines of this great hymn that extols God’s boundless grace. “Draw all my mind and heart up to your throne
on high. And let your sacred cross exalt
my spirit to the sky. To these, Your
mighty hands, my spirit I resign. In
life I live alone to you; in death am yours alone.” Thanks be to God for grace that covers us so
comprehensively and rightly deserves all our sacrifice.
For quality inspirational, educational, and
fictional Christian books visit www.davidccraig.net
No comments:
Post a Comment