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Rules and Grace



            We all make mistakes, right?  However, most of our mistakes do not cost us $25 000.

            A while ago, I came across the story of a Newfoundland couple who was in the process of building their dream home.  Everything was going well.  They hired a contractor, found a lot that they liked in a nice neighbourhood, they had the basement dug and the cement walls were poured.  Everything was on plan and on schedule until the building inspector showed up.

            He informed the couple that their basement was 9 centimeters too close to the property line.  Now, when you are talking about a city lot, 9 centimeters is not much.  A playing card is approximately 9 centimeters long.  However, rules are rules and so the inspector told them that they would have to tear down the new basement wall and rebuild it 9 centimeters back on their property.  When they checked the cost of doing that they found out that it was going to add an extra $25 000 to their bill.   Looking for another alternative, they thought, “Maybe we can get the property line moved by buying 9 centimeters of land from the neighbour”, so they went and told him their story.  He listened and then – knowing that he had them over a barrel – agreed to sell them 9 centimeters of land, but he had a price in mind… $25 000.   Either way, because no one would work with them, their mistake was going to cost them a lot.

            Rules are rules, but sometimes being gracious makes a lot more sense.

             Contrast that story to the Biblical message.  God says “You have made mistakes and have crossed the line. You have sinned and the penalty it high”.  But instead of treating us our sins deserve and hitting us hard, God treats us with one of the nicest Biblical words ever:  Grace.  On the cross Jesus paid for our mistakes so that we would not have to. 

            The book of Ephesians says, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
 
            This Easter weekend as you think about the cross, the resurrection, the empty grave, forgiven sins and the hope that we have because of all of this, maybe you too will be reminded that rules are necessary, but grace is better.

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