In your grandfather’s day, when he wasn’t field dressing a triceratops, he may have been gathering water for the family’s daily use from the rain barrel. This was an extremely vital source of fresh water. Now, many of us may not have an appreciation for rain on most days, but those without modern plumbing sure appreciate it. In fact, in certain areas water is still collected through a series of channels or gutters, terminating in a vessel. If it rains more days than not, the rain spills over the lip of the vessel onto the ground and/or anybody near it.
What I hope to jog into our memory from this illustration is that God’s grace is being poured down on earth like a monsoon 365 days a year. If, for the sake of the above illustration, we could imagine ourselves as one of those vessels, we should want to know if everyone – without exception – is drenched in grace by virtue of coming into close proximity with us. Are we that Grace-Full?
Perhaps you can admit that you give little thought, let alone appreciation, to the grace you receive daily. Or, for some reason, you don’t feel completely full of grace. If so, there’s probably someone you can think of that you’re not drenching in grace. If any of these apply to us, there can really be only two reasons. The first being that God has simply stopped raining down grace upon us. The second reason is that our gutters are derailed. Now the first reason is an impossibility, so let’s face the fact that if we’re not overflowing with God’s grace and lavishing it onto others, it’s because our appreciation for His grace is derailed and we’ve, therefore, neglected routine maintenance.
The great Apostle Peter reminds us of the absolute necessity of a spiritual maintenance regimen. Simply put, he tells us to add a few very specific things to our daily routine. But he’s realistic enough to know that it’s not going to happen by osmosis. We have to take responsibility for putting forth deliberate effort. “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 2 Peter 1:8-9 NIV
