When I was a water safety instructor, I trained lifeguards. You’re a lifeguard first, then you become a water safety instructor. Christians are involved in saving people’s lives. People who are drowning. People who are going under. That’s kind of what sin does; it causes us to drown. It takes us under. We’ve all been infected and affected by our own sins and by the sins of others. But the good news of God’s grace is that it is in the saving business. When I was saving someone or training lifeguards to save someone, it meant that that person was in a position where they could not save themselves. No matter how hard they tried, they were not able to swim back to shore or to swim to the side of the pool. That meant that I (or some other lifeguard) had to dive in and rescue them from that which was about to destroy them.
That’s the good news of God’s saving grace. It reaches us when we’re drowning in the fact of sin, the consequences of sin and when we’re separated from a holy God. God the Savior dove in, sacrificed Himself on the cross in order to save us from drowning and being destroyed by the devastating consequences of sin. When you think about being saved by grace, think about a lifeguard saving a drowning person. Trust Jesus Christ as your personal sin bearer. Don’t worry about working for favor, because you can’t earn it. If you could earn it, you could swim to shore yourself. But because we can’t earn it and God provided it, you’ll have to let go and let Him do the saving. Give up trying to save yourself and relinquish yourself to Jesus Christ who becomes your Savior and brings you safely to shore. He gives you the gift of eternal life.
