Before Time, There Was...

Did anything exist before the universe was here? We have a hard time imagining something that could exist before, well, anything existed (if the word "universe" means "space and time and energy and everything"). But if God exists, which I believe he does, he was around before he made
the physical realm we live in. And because he existed, something else existed -- something you can experience even if you can't measure it -- and that is grace. Grace is the way God feels toward us, and acts toward us, and more than that, this is the way God himself IS.

Paul's second letter to his dear friend Timothy describes this:  "He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time" (2 Tim. 1:9).

So, dear friend, if we think "I've found Jesus and now I'm saved" or "Now that I believe, God forgives me" we, in our own self-centered perspective, have missed the point, because we've put our cart before God's horse, so to speak. We don't earn grace, we don't qualify for it, and we don't make it effective. God made the first move, he always has, and our best hope is to respond to his moves.

Grace existed before time, and it was given to us before we were born. You are already included in the love of God, and cannot fall out of his love, no matter how silly a life you lead. So, you may as well stop the silliness and spend more time enjoying that love, right?  It's that simple.