What do we do with Grace?

One of the many parts of my job that I enjoy is being a coach. I love to get outside after school, and play. I often times get on the field and go through the drills with my team. I want them to know that I will do the same as I ask them to. It builds a level of trust with my athletes. Along with this, at times, I can become very "loud" at some of our practices and soccer matches. I have been known to throw my hat past the bench area, and speak my mind to an official occasionally in maybe a not so nice fashion. I really get into what I am doing, and I want to win. I want my team to be a success. Now, we do pray before every game starts. And I am always saying to God that I want to represent Him well. And sometimes I end up ignoring that all together. I feel ashamed sometimes when the game is over and I am on my way home for the way that I spoke or carried myself during a game. I have even contacted an official a couple of days later to apologize for the way that I spoke. This led me to think on what are we doing with the Grace that God gives us. Ephesians 1:7 reads "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace." By His grace, we are saved. Because none of us is worthy on our own to be saved. It is because He was gracious enough to send His Son to die for our sins. Christ suffered, bleed, was beaten, and crucified just because He loved us, and wanted us to spend eternity with Him. How do we repay this grace? A lot of times we use it to enable us to sin. What I mean by this is that sometimes people say that it is okay to slip up because God will forgive them. Or, I will just ask God to forgive me after I do this, or later on when I get older. That is not what grace is. Will God forgive us? Yes, but we need to strive to live our lives in a manner that is pleasing to Him. We need to look at grace as our lifeline to reach eternity, rather than to trample it when things don't go our way. We always need to be mindful of God, and act as if we are truly thankful. Not just something to fall back on. We need to be proactive about being a good witness to those around us all the time. We need to be truly thankful for the gift of grace. I think of my children at their birthdays. When the get the one gift that they wanted the most, they hug everybody, they are so thankful and joyous, and cannot wait to play with their new possession. When was the last time we acted the same way towards God for His gift of grace? So happy and thankful. And we cannot wait to apply it in every aspect of our lives. So the question is today, What do we really do with God's grace?

Thanks and God bless you all this week