Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

Grace: (noun) The free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings

As a famous old hymn once said, grace is amazing. I liken it to finding a $20 bill tucked away in an old wallet when both your gas tank and bank account are empty. Or groggily waking up in the middle of the night, only to realize that you still have a solid five hours of sleep before your alarm goes off. Or forgetting to write a paper, but awakening to three feet of fresh snow and a university that 
is officially "closed" for the day. 

But God's grace is about a million times better. Because it's eternal. And free. And full of blessings far greater and more perfect than we could ever receive from anyone else.

A few days ago, this whole concept finally clicked. 

It was a normal day at summer camp, and my group was about to change into our bathing suits for our two hours of swim time. But then a big fat summer storm rolled in. So instead of water slides and one-piece tan lines, we were forced to go spend a portion of that time in the aerobics room. Although it has plenty of extra space to do activities ("Stepbrothers" reference), it also has HUGE mirror walls. Perfect for women tryin' to get their yoga groove on, but terrible for camp counselors in charge of children who are for some unknown reason magnetized to mirrors. The bigger the better. They run up, smush their little faces, and smear their handprints all over them. My supervisors are known for getting upset about messed up mirrors, and I have enough to worry about without bringing Windex into the equation. 

So I'm pretty strict. 

We made our way up to the aerobics room and I told the kids to close their mouths, park their bottoms, and listen up. 

"Boys and girls, you are NOT to touch the mirrors. At all. That means don't put your hands on them, don't put your faces on them, don't lean against them, don't even breathe on them. This is your one and only warning. If I see you making contact with the mirrors, I will put you in time-out for the rest of the time that we are in this room. Again, this is your only warning. Don't. Touch. The. Mirrors."

Five minutes goes by, and guess what? A little boy is high-fiving himself in the mirror. And then flattening his nose against the mirror. And then breathing on the mirror and writing his name in the fog. I would like to say that I took a deep breath, calmly walked over, crouched down to eye-level with the child, and then explained to him that he was breaking the rules. HAHA um, no...that is definitely not what happened. 

"BOBBY!", I screamed from across the room, "WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING THE MIRRORS?!? Get over here NOW. You are in time-out...FOR A REALLY LONG TIME!!!!"

Then I put him in time-out, reprimanded him for blatantly breaking the rules, and told him that he would have to sit there and watch the rest of us play fun games for at least another 45 minutes. I knew he felt pretty terrible about it because he didn't even make eye-contact with me the entire time. 

Well, my bark is a lot worse than my bite. I couldn't stand to see him sitting there close to tears watching all the other kids having fun. So about ten minutes into his punishment, I walked over and sat down. 

Before I even had a chance to speak he quickly apologized.

 "I'm really sorry Miss Amanda. I won't ever do that again." 

"I know," I responded, "that's why I'm going to let you out of time out right now."

His face lit up with a big smile as he said: 

"You mean I even get to play games and stuff?"

And that's when it hit me. This situation is not unique. 

God was very clear in giving us rules. He gave us ten big ones on big ol' stone tablets. You might know them as "the Ten Commandments"(Exodus 20: 1-21). Then Jesus came along, and He gave us two more (Mark 12:28-31). And God was pretty clear in forewarning us of our punishment if we were to break the rules (Romans 6:23). And day in and day out, we break the rules. From committing crimes worthy of jail time, to worshipping the idols of fortune, fame, and success, to simply just being jealous of that brand new car that a friend is driving, 


we rub our filthy hands all over the mirrors.

The difference in the story is that God doesn't impatiently lash out at us, as I did to the little boy. Instead He loves us in a big, bold, and recklessly generous way (Romans 5:8). He offers us the gift of grace, if we choose to accept it. (John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8-9) He willingly sent His only son to live a perfect, sinless life, and receive the punishment in our place. But it doesn't even end there. God forgives and forgets. We are not only liberated from the punishment of an eternity apart from Him, but then we are given the truly satisfying freedom of knowing Christ and living in His blessings. 

We get to "play games and stuff".

Our God is good. He is faithful, He is just, and He is loving. 

And I can't help but love Him back.