1 Timothy 1:14

"The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."

This morning before I went out I read through verses 12-17 several times to make sure I was memorizing the verses in context. Verses 12-17 is one composed thought of Paul's and I wanted to make sure I was not isolating these verses without understanding the general thought process of Paul. I know this is one of the great dangers of verse memorization.

As I read through this I struggled with just seeing this as a dialogue of Paul explaining his conversion experience. Then I had to remember that this is a letter to Timothy, for the benefit of Timothy. This is not a Op-Ed peice in the New Yorker where he is writing a general to who it may concern article. This is for Timothy to relate to and written so he could gather strength from it. I think I often get lost in Scripture for this reason. I need to remind myself that Paul is making a point for a specific purpose, not just writing an autobiography.

This takes us to verse 14 and "the grace of our Lord overflowed to me". The moment I looked at this and walked out my door this just about knocked me down. I don't know why I have never really taken any time on this verse in all of my readings. Paul is talking about his salvation from his horrible way of life, but he is also teaching Timothy about God's grace. It overflows! It overflowed to me to allow me to lead a faithful life and more importantly Timothy it overflows to you.

I don't think Paul is simply saying that in our conversion experience God's grace overflows, but that it overflows daily. I walked with my head down (you must do that here as the sidewalk is cracked with the roots of trees) and as I did I simply pictured this fountain raining down from heaven all over me. It was covering me with this grace. It was bursting forth and could not be contained. And the most beautfiul thing is that it never stopped. The fountain throughout my walk never shut off. I prayed to God that he would continually let me see this overflowing of grace that daily never ceases for me his child. That this grace would allow me to overcome every obstacle, struggle, and temptation I encountered and that my children and wife would also bathe in this grace daily. This fountain covered every pain and regret and was the source of every victory.

I think Paul wanted Timothy to know that as well. There is an abundant amount of grace overflowing for you Timothy just as it did for me. Know that you are never alone, know that there is always abundant provision.

At first, as I encountered this overflow I was filled with a sense of guilt as I felt like the always disobedient, underserving servant. Part way through my walk I realized that I was missing the whole point. This fountain of grace falling on me has nothing to do with my worthiness. It is solely rooted in the second part of this verse "from the faith and love that is in Jesus Christ". Again, it is about HIM! I still had not learned that from verse 12-13. This unstoppable fire hose of grace has nothing to do with my merit. I didn't turn it on and I can't turn it off as a child of God. He made the decision to let the grace flow freely and there isn't a sense that he is ever going to turn the spicket off.

The second part of the verse confirms that he is perfectly faithful and perfectly loving, but maybe even more it confirms that He is perfectly faithful and perfectly loving to his children. This is to be always remembered by Timothy and should always be remembered by me.