From the pen of Dr. Sam Jones 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Thank you God! This is the attitude that every person needs to manifest daily. All of us will sin at some point in life; God knowing this would occur, in His infinite wisdom, made provision for our reconciliation. Thus, Paul tells us in the above text, because of God’s goodness (His grace) we enjoy the hope of eternal life in heaven. This hope of eternal life is God’s gift to those who are willing to comply with His scheme of redemption (Tit. 2:11-12). No person can earn the privilege of being worthy to enter into heaven, it’s a gift from God (Rom. 6:23).

There’s a story told of a man who was traveling on his donkey when he came upon a small object lying in the road. He dismounted to look more closely and found a sparrow lying on its back with its scrawny legs thrust upward. At first he thought the bird was dead, but a closer investigation proved it to be very much alive. The man asked the sparrow if he was alright. The sparrow replied, “Yes.” The man asked, “What are you doing lying on your back with your legs pointed towards the sky?” The sparrow responded that he had heard a rumor that the sky was falling, and so he was holding his legs up to catch it.” The man retorted, “You surely don’t think that you’re going to hold it up with those two scrawny legs, do you?” The sparrow, with a very solemn look, replied, “One does the best he can.”

Our spiritual situation is similar to the problem of the sparrow. We can do the best we can and our best will not be good enough or earn us the right to enter into heaven – salvation is a gift from God. Therefore, we should start everyday with the expression, thank you God!

God is smiling on you – smile back.

Make today a great day!