The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
I expected eight bananas. Instead, when I opened the grocery bags delivered to my home, I discovered twenty bananas! I quickly realized that my move to England meant I also moved from ordering groceries in pounds to requesting them in kilograms. Instead of three pounds, I had ordered three kilograms (nearly seven pounds!) of bananas.
With such an abundance, I made several batches of a favorite banana bread recipe to share the blessing with others. As I mashed up the fruit, I began thinking about the other areas of my life where I have experienced unexpected abundance—and each path led back to God.
Paul appears to have had a similar experience of reflecting on God’s abundance in his life. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul paused to describe his life before Jesus, describing himself as a “persecutor and a violent man” (1 Timothy 1:13); “the worst of sinners” (v. 16). Into Paul’s brokenness, God lavishly poured out grace, faith, and love (v. 14). After recounting all the abundance in his life, the apostle couldn’t help but express praise to God, declaring Him worthy of all “honor and glory for ever and ever” (v. 17).
Like Paul, we all received an overwhelming abundance of grace when we accepted Jesus’ offer of rescue from sin (v. 15). As we pause to reflect on all the resulting blessings, we’ll find ourselves joining Paul in grateful praise to our generous God.
By Lisa M. Samra
