Text:
Exodus 33:12-19
Memory Verse:
“So the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will also do this thing that you have spoken, for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name’” (Exodus 33:17).
John Newton’s father, we are told, trained him well for life in the Royal Navy, but the boy lacked discipline and lived a reckless life. At the age of 21, he boarded a ship that was being used to transport slaves from Africa. One evening, he saw a copy of ‘The Imitation of Christ’ and mocked it. That night, the sea became stormy – one side of the ship collapsed. All the sailors, including himself, worked hard to keep the ship from sinking, and were losing. Out of desperation he cried, “If this will not do, then Lord have mercy on us all.”
Jesus heard the cry and intervened. The ship and everyone in it survived. John never forgot the undeserved mercy, unmerited favour shown to him that day. Other people have also received the same unmerited favour from God (Luke 19:5). He returned to England and composed the hymn “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.” For nearly 50 years, he preached about the Saviour who does not allow the storms of life to overcome a man.
Are you walking daily with this Saviour? The experience of Moses and of the Israelites who sojourned in the wilderness required the presence of a living God (Exodus 33:14), the One who is gracious and compassionate. He delivered them from cruel bondage and remained with them until they entered Gilgal, where the reproach of Egypt was finally rolled away from them. The grace of God finds out sinners and transforms every life that mercifully receives Him. Are you a partaker of God’s grace?
Prayer Points:
1. O Lord, may Your grace be available for me in abundant measure.
2. Be gracious and compassionate to me, O Lord
