Grace Always Goes to the Root

Grace always goes to the root or heart of a matter. John the Baptist comes as an ambassador of grace and shouts, "The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." (Matthew 3:10, Luke 3:9) The Apostle agrees with John the Baptist when he says that the goodness of God leads us to repentance.

I look around and I don't see many people responding to the goodness of God's grace. I see many doing what the Apostle warns us against in Romans 2:4- despising that goodness.

What do I mean? Remember grace goes to the heart or root of every matter. What do I mean that many are despising the goodness of God?

The Number #1 reason I say this is because I don't see the fruit of repentance in most people's lives. What is the fruit of repentance? It is a transformed life. The fruit concentrate of repentance is a person who has self control over his own ambition and appetites and submission to God above all other things.

The Number #2 reason I believe many are despising the goodness of God is I don't see them focus on the root problems we face as people or nations. Instead of focusing on the root causes of our problems we are acting to prove we are acting. It's a surface show we are staging so the discontented will have someone other than us at which to throw their tomatoes.

Today, I turned on the news as the president and first lady made their way to the G20 Summit. Was the news about the root solutions they were going to offer there to turn our economic turmoil around? No, the news report was how the first lady was dazzling those at the summit with her evening wear.

All I could do was envision a cartoon with the president and first lady atop a firewagon as it plummets down a hill into a European (Roman) city as it is burning. They have no fire gear ready to deal with the fire that is consuming the city. They are too busy trying to keep their seat.

The president in his formal attire has one hand on the reins trying to control the wild horses pulling the wagon. His other hand holds a violin on which I'm sure he will give a remarkable performance later.

The first lady is dressed in her finest evening gown though at this moment she is trying to keep from being thrown from the wagon. The only remark of the two bystanders who see them on the way into town is "Did you notice how good the first lady looked?"

Stop and pray for your nation and its leaders today. Pray that they will not despise the goodness of God. Instead let us pray we will allow grace to get to the root or heart of the matters we face.