Shack Dwellers

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.  Ephesians 2:8

Our Salvation is a gift, freely given based on God’s love, not anything we have done or could do to earn it. Earned love is never a gift. When someone reciprocates love, it is not a gift, it is an exchange of love for love. God’s love for us was all one way from Him to us when we didn’t even care if He existed.

My mind was filled with a picture this morning of a shack and a palace.  While I was dwelling in a broken down, leaky shack, the King of the palace sent His Son out among us shack dwellers and offered us the gift of living in the palace with all the rights and privileges of His heir. It seemed too good to be true for I had done nothing to merit such mercy. In fact, I had been resentful of those who lived in the palace. I had no idea what palace life was really like. All I had ever known was the life of a shack-dweller. My parents and grandparents had been shack-dwellers and never talked about palace life.

When the Son offered us shack-dwellers the gift of living in the palace, I was afraid and uncertain, but curious and hungry for a better life. Some of my friends scoffed and said it was too good to be true and they laughed at my desire. I chose to step out and follow the Son into the palace, anyway, not really knowing what I was getting into.

For years I lived like a shack-dweller visiting the palace, eating the food, trying not to enjoy it as I was certain it would eventually be taken away. The Son kept encouraging me to take advantage of my full rights, but I didn’t truly understand the meaning of the gift. After all I had received gifts only when I deserved them, in repayment for some good deed I had done or on some special day in my life.  This gift came out of nowhere and for no reason other than the King’s desire to give it to me! 

As my years in the palace have progressed, I have come to trust the King’s heart and although I still do not deserve this awesome gift, I now realize how I have hurt the King’s heart by not taking full advantage of all He is offering me. I have watched Him smile, even laugh as others have enjoyed His gift to its fullest, taking advantage of everything aspect of palace life.  I want to make Him laugh too. I want Him to know how much I appreciate His generosity and kindness, even though I still do not fully understand it.

Oh, King, please forgive me for not accepting Your gift in its fullness and help me to take advantage of every privilege of palace life to the extent that I bring intense joy to you and help others who may be, as I once was, living like a visitor rather than a daughter and heir of the kingdom.