I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ (Eph. 3:17-18 NIV).

Mom on strike. Those words appeared on a sign planted in the front yard of a home near us. A young mother, who had tired of her children’s whining and back-talk, moved high into the family’s backyard treehouse and declared herself on strike.

A local television station interviewed her husband. The dad, frantic to get his wife to come down from the tree, urged his kids to quit whining, promise obedience, and make amends.

We understand the mom, but it’s important to know that our God is different. He doesn’t go on strike because we haven’t made amends or cleaned up our act. Because we could never do enough to climb to God in his heavenly house, he came to us in the person of his Son.

Because we could never make amends for our sins, Jesus made atonement for us. He paid the price for our sins before our good behavior lasted long enough, or we grieved for our sins deeply enough, or we opened our arms wide enough to him. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:9).

Our relationship with God never depends on the sufficiency of our goodness, but on grace we cannot earn and do not deserve. He is never on strike but always available to those who call out in faith to the One who made amends for us.

Prayer:
Lord, I’m grateful that you never go on strike because of my sins, or wait until I’ve made sufficient amends to help me. Thank you for extending your grace to me in Christ before I ever earned it or could deserve it!