God is gracious. To be gracious means 'to favour,' ‘to show kindnesses’ to an inferior, and ‘to be compassionate.’ In the Old Testament of the Bible, this adjective applies to God, pointing to His favour and mercy, His long-suffering and general inclination of favour and kindness. "The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness." Psalm 145:8
God is gracious because He is love. It is His character to love even if love is not returned to Him. He will give us good things because of His goodness. He extends favour, mercy, and kindness to whoever He pleases because it’s who He is. God is gracious because He is our Creator. Even when we don’t acknowledge Him or worship Him, He still favours us with good things because He wants to. God created mankind as good, and He won’t turn His back on His creatures or creation. In Isaiah 30:18, it says, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.”
A father and mother will give good things to their children because of goodness personified and because they want the best for their children. They provide shelter, food, and clothing because they know that it is necessary for the well-being of the children. They also give them gifts out of love. God does the same thing. He has provided everything for humanity in order for them to grow and prosper. He goes beyond just subsistence. He personalises every gift. He does this even though we don’t recognise or deserve it. Ephesians 1:7 shows us about God’s grace. “In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” Through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, on the cross, we have received His grace.
God is gracious all the time, even when we are disobedient. It is His character to be gracious, and He does not change. His character is immutable. James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” He extends His mercy to us until the final moment of our lives. He wants none to perish because He created us to live in eternity with Him. It is by God’s grace that we can have eternal life. God had so much compassion on humanity that He sent His only Son to die for the disobedience of all mankind. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Knowing that we are abject sinners, born in sin, still the Lord does not forsake us. He is so gracious and patient that, like the father of the prodigal son, He patiently waits for us to turn to Him and showers his grace and blessings which we do not deserve. This is His basic character through which He reaches out to us, willing to pardon our sins and give us eternal life. He is so gracious that He is not willing to remember our sins and casts them into the deepest of the oceans. Micah 7:19 “He will turn again; he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
Dr Ashwin Drummond
Laddertoheaven.co.in