Max Lucado - Shaped by Grace

SHAPED BY GRACE

2012 Max Lucado

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Other Scripture references are from the following sources: The Message (MSG) by Eugene H. Peterson. 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. New Century Version (NCV). 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV (NIV). 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT). 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. The Living Bible (TLB). 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-0-8499-5925-7

Printed in the United States of America

12 13 14 15 16 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

S ome years ago I underwent a heart procedure. My heartbeat had the regularity of a telegraph operator sending Morse code. Fast, fast fast. Slooooow. After several failed attempts to restore healthy rhythm with medication, my doctor decided I should have a catheter ablation. The plan went like this: a cardiologist would insert two cables in my heart via a blood vessel. One was a camera; the other was an ablation tool. To ablate is to burn. Yes, burn, cauterize, singe, brand. If all went well, the doctor, to use his coinage, would destroy the misbehaving parts of my heart.

As I was being wheeled into surgery, he asked if I had any final questions. (Not the best choice of words.) I tried to be witty.

Youre burning the interior of my heart, right?

Correct.

You intend to kill the misbehaving cells, yes?

That is my plan.

As long as you are in there, could you take your little blowtorch to some of my greed, selfishness, superiority, and guilt?

He smiled and answered, Sorry, thats out of my pay grade.

Indeed it was, but its not out of Gods. He is in the business of changing hearts.

We would be wrong to think this change happens overnight. But we would be equally wrong to assume change never happens at all. It may come in fits and spurtsan aha here, a breakthrough there. But it comes. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared (Titus 2:11). The floodgates are open, and the water is out. You just never know when grace will seep in.

Could you use some?

You stare into the darkness. Your husband slumbers next to you. The ceiling fan whirls above you. In fifteen minutes the alarm will sound, and the demands of the day will shoot you like a clown out of a cannon into a three-ring circus of meetings, bosses, and baseball practices. For the millionth time youll make breakfast, schedules, and payroll... but for the life of you, you cant make sense of this thing called life. Its beginnings and endings. Cradles and cancers and cemeteries and questions. The why of it all keeps you awake. As he sleeps and the world waits, you stare.

You turn the page of your Bible and look at the words. You might as well be gazing at a cemetery. Lifeless and stony. Nothing moves you. But you dont dare close the book, no sirree. You trudge through the daily reading in the same fashion as you soldier through the prayers, penance, and offerings. You dare not miss a deed for fear that God will erase your name.

You run your finger over the photo of her face. She was only five years old when you took it. Cheeks freckled by the summer sun, hair in pigtails, and feet in flippers. That was twenty years ago. Your three marriages ago. A million flight miles and e-mails ago. Tonight she walks down the aisle on the arm of another father. You left your family bobbing in the wake of your high-speed career. Now that you have what you wanted, you dont want it at all. Oh, to have a second chance.

You listen to the preacher. A tubby sort with jowls, bald dome, and a thick neck that hangs over his clerical collar. Your dad makes you come to church, but he cant make you listen. At least, thats what youve always muttered to yourself. But this morning you listen because the reverend speaks of a God who loves prodigals, and you feel like the worst sort of one. You cant keep the pregnancy a secret much longer. Soon your parents will know. The preacher will know. He says God already knows. You wonder what God thinks.

The meaning of life. The wasted years of life. The poor choices of life. God answers the mess of life with one word: grace.

We talk as though we understand the term. The bank gives us a grace period. The seedy politician falls from grace. Musicians speak of a grace note. We describe an actress as gracious, a dancer as graceful. We use the word for hospitals, baby girls, kings, and premeal prayers. We talk as though we know what grace means.

Especially at church. Grace graces the songs we sing and the Bible verses we read. Grace shares the church parsonage with its cousins: forgiveness, faith, and fellowship. Preachers explain it. Hymns proclaim it. Seminaries teach it.

But do we really understand it?

Heres my hunch: weve settled for wimpy grace. It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign. Never causes trouble or demands a response. When asked, Do you believe in grace? who could say no?

This book asks a deeper question:

Have you been changed by grace?

Shaped by grace? Strengthened by grace?

Emboldened by grace? Softened by grace?

When grace happens, we receive not a nice compliment from God but a new heart. Give your heart to Christ, and he returns the favor. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you (Ezek. 36:26).

You might call it a spiritual heart transplant.

Tara Storch understands this miracle as much as anyone can. In the spring of 2010 a skiing accident took the life of her thirteen-year-old daughter, Taylor. What followed for Tara and her husband, Todd, was every parents worst nightmare: a funeral, a burial, a flood of questions and tears. They decided to donate their daughters organs to needy patients. Few people needed a heart more than Patricia Winters. Her heart had begun to fail five years earlier, leaving her too weak to do much more than sleep. Taylors heart gave Patricia a fresh start on life.

Tara had only one request: she wanted to hear the heart of her daughter. She and Todd flew from Dallas to Phoenix and went to Patricias home to listen to Taylors heart.

When they listened to the healthy rhythm, whose heart did they hear? Did they not hear the still-beating heart of their daughter? It indwells a different body, but the heart is the heart of their child. And when God hears your heart, does he not hear the still-beating heart of his Son?

As Paul said, It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2:20). The apostle sensed within himself not just the philosophy, ideals, or influence of Christ but the person of Jesus. Christ moved in. He still does. When grace happens, Christ enters. Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).