Tuesday's Child

Saved by Grace
Daniel 9:1-11:1

"...We do not ask these things because we are good; instead, we ask because of your mercy." (Daniel 9:18)

As the familiar Mother Goose rhyme goes, "Tuesday's child is full of grace." (Though I'm Friday's child, I always thought Tuesday's more admirable.) Yet, God is the only one that is full of grace, and God saves us and blesses us through His mercy and compassion, not because we are worthy.

In today's reading Daniel spends time praying, confessing his sins and those of Israel and praying for help, recognizing that he doesn't deserve it... but that even so, God is good in rescuing poor sinners. This is so contra- what the world tells us. Earn the best grades to attain the best job. Obtain the highest degree to achieve the highest salary. When all evidence points to earning your way through life, it's no wonder it's so hard for us to recognize that we can't earn our way into heaven. It sounds so easy, but sometimes it's difficult to accept that we are really not good enough on our own. We sin, we need to confess our sins, and we desperately need God's grace... a gift that we cannot earn but can only accept and appreciate and believe.

Shamed in Disgrace
Proverbs 29:15

"Correction and punishment make children wise, but those left alone will disgrace their mother." (Proverbs 29:15)

This verse is important on two levels at least. First, the literal- I saw it all too clearly in Campo Limpo. Children were often left to fend for themselves, since school lasted only half of the day and parents (oftentimes parent-singular, oftentimes mother) needed to work. Through no fault of their own, the children all too often got in trouble or ended up causing mischeif. That's why Marisa's work was so important in that setting- more than just teaching, she provided guidance, love and support for children who lacked that structure in their lives.

The other level would be the fact that we need guidance in our journey towards spiritual maturity... learning to practice prayer, study, giving and fellowship (to name a few). My sin is disgraceful for my heavenly Father, but I praise God that His abouding grace makes up for my disgrace. As a young child in Sunday School, I would sing, "Jesus Loves Even Me" and as I grew I've come to appreciate the sentiments of this beautiful hymn more and more.

Motivated by Grace
1 John 1:1-10 (New book today!)

"...God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. So if we say we have fellowship with God, but we continue living in darkness, we are liars and do not follow the truth. But if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God's Son cleanses us from every sin." (1 John: 5-7)

Now here's that tricky catch all for accepting God's grace. It's not something you can use like a "get out of jail free card" from the popular game Monopoly. (Although people have gotten out of jail in several fun Bible stories, here this is mere illustration.) It's not like you can wake up every day and get yourself into whatever shenanigans you wish and then pray for forgiveness at the end of the day.

True confession of sins, true acceptance of God's unfathomable grace and love motivates us to live "in the light" and flee from the "darkness." It's made clear here that we are lying if we live in the aforementioned style with our "saved by grace disclaimer." Perhaps it's best understood through the example of agape love.

Within the bond of a traditionally loving parent-child relationship, there is a type of "unconditional love." Though the children know their parents will love them no matter what, they do not purposefully go out of their way to cause trouble or hurt or harm to their parents. Instead, they are motivated by love to express goodness and kindness and "light" to their loved ones. In the same way, if we truly accept God's grace, Jesus blood will cleanse us, and we will be motivated by love and adoration for our Savior to express Jesus' light in the world.