Grace is always amazing, but the deeper the spiritual abyss from which one is rescued, the more appreciation he or she is likely to feel.  After the death of his spiritually minded mother, when he was just seven years old, John Newton never seemed to recover.  He ended up living a life so engulfed by sin that even the British Navy could not turn his life around, at least not at first.  He deserted his duty, was captured, and flogged, and ended up back at sea on dangerous expeditions.

On March 9, 1748, while out at sea, John was awakened by a strong storm that struck the vessel that he was aboard.  The storm came on so quickly that the crew had no time to prepare properly, and it looked like they would all perish.  Mr. Newton prayed as hard as he could that night, no doubt realizing that he was not ready to meet the Lord in judgment.  Somehow, the vessel survived the storm, and John, of course, believed that it was the Lord who delivered him from such a precarious situation.  He eventually turned his life around and became, not only a renowned preacher but a prolific songwriter, which included “Amazing Grace,” a favorite hymn of millions for over two centuries.

As Christians, we sing this song with joy because it speaks of such a wonderful truth that we all deeply appreciate, and for which we are thankful.  We can all speak with conviction when we sing, “I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.”  Paul certainly would have endorsed such a hymn if he were still living when it was written, for, by inspiration, he wrote very similar words.

Ephesians 2:1-5 (ESV)

¹ And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Yes, we were all lost at some point, but the grace of God found us, and the gospel of Christ saved us, and, by the richness of God’s mercy, and the great love with which He loved us, we are no longer blind, but now we can see.  We can see the sinfulness of our former way of living and appreciate the grace of God that helped us to overcome it.  We can now see the will of God and the way to heaven, which was made possible by the unmerited favor that our Creator has shown to us.

We have all come to Christ from different backgrounds and situations; but, one thing we all have in common is the amazing grace of God that got us here.  No matter what our own personal “dangers, toils, and snares” were, God saw us through it, and we should be thankful every day of our lives.  Let us make sure, like Paul before us, that we do not receive the grace of God in vain (1 Corinthians 15:10), but rather, let us work harder to show God how much we realize we are blessed, and acknowledge that His grace is truly amazing.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.