By Pastor Danny Evans

I love grace. I love to talk about grace, to sing about grace, teach on grace, but practicing grace in my own life was a struggle. This struggle was very apparent in my fathering skills. When my children did something bad they were punished, when they did something good they were rewarded and some-times when I wanted to teach them a lesson about God they were simply forgiven for their bad deed. The lessons never seemed to hit home with them and I never realized it was because I failed to show them what true grace really looked like.

That all changed one exhausting day I spent with Jaden. Megan was doing some work around the house and Jaden was getting into everything. To get him out of the house and to give her a break, I decided to take him to a movie and then out to Chick-fil-A (his favorite place to eat) for dinner. He was in a crazy mood, so to assure his good behavior I told him we would only go to Chick-fil-A if he was obedient during the movie. He promised he would be and he kept his promise … for about five minutes. He thought it would be fun to leap out of his seat and run at full speed around the theater! He had a couple laps in before I finally caught him. He eluded me for so long because he would weave into the isles where people were sitting every time I got close. When I finally caught him, he wanted to keep playing that “game.” When I told him he could not, he started screaming and throwing a fit. I carried his screaming, flailing body to the car and buckled him in the seat and told him he messed up and now he does not get Chick-fil-A. He sat back against his seat and crossed his arms in anger. I had no idea how to handle the situation. I knew what I wanted to do, but not what I should do. At that moment God brought to my mind a passage that I had been reading that morning.

Ephesians 2:4-9, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the im-measurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own do-ing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

I got in the car and drove straight to Chick-fil-A. When we arrived, Jaden’s little head peaked out the window. He saw where we were and was confused. He asked why we were there if he was bad. I told him that only he was bad—I was good, so I was al-lowed to get some food and I was very hungry. I placed my order and brought it to our seat. I looked across the table at Jaden. He was sitting there with an empty space in front of him and I was sitting there with my amazing food in front of me. His arms were still crossed and his face still defiant. Then I slid my meal over to him. He sat there for a second trying to process the situation. Finally he said, “Why did you do that?” I told him I loved him and I wanted him to have it. His face softened then turned to sadness, “But then you will have nothing to eat even though you were good.” I told him that was true and even though he was bad he got to eat the food I received for being good. He repeated his first question, “Why would you do that?” That was one of my favorite questions I ever answered. I got to tell my son about what Christ did for us on the cross. And for the first time he understood what that really meant. The best part was I learned more about grace that day as well. How truly undeserving we are and what amazing love God has for us.