And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6
“For this, indeed, great grace is needed, grace that will raise the soul and lift it up above itself. Unless a man be elevated in spirit, free from all creatures, and completely united to God, all his knowledge and possessions are of little moment. He who considers anything great except the one, immense, eternal good will long be little and lie groveling on the earth. Whatever is not God is nothing and must be accounted as nothing.”
Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471) in The Imitation of Christ (Grand Rapids, CCEL), p. 107.
As I continue to explore what is ‘needful’ in the mindset of Thomas à Kempis in his classic book to gain insight for living, giving, serving and loving generously, I discover afresh that “great grace” is needed.
We tend to live life focused on ourselves, on our agendas, and what we think is needful. When we do that, we do nothing but grovel on the earth. People who do not follow Jesus do not know any better than to grovel.
We need great grace. We need God to elevate our spirit while we make Him our top priority. When we do that, everything else falls into place. When we don’t, well, instead of exhibiting generosity, we grovel on earth.
God give us great grace to focus on you and follow you instead of groveling. We trust that as we do, you will sort out the rest of the details of life for us better than we could do for ourselves. Amen.