God's Favor is Free!

Last night I had a recurring dream that is hard to describe, but the phrase that was said over and over is simple to understand, I heard, "He is trying to get you to pay for something that is already free to you."  When I woke up, I believed this phrase related to the works mentality, and was referring to salvation.  What can I say, I have interesting dreams.

So, I initially thought this reflection was going to be about the Gospel of Grace, but as I started reflecting it just seemed like I was missing the point.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this morning the issue the Lord was wanting me to think about was His favor.  The statement from my dream works either way, and I realized that the less common theme of favor was where I seemed to be led.

Thinking about God's favor is probably not that common of a conscious thought line, but I believe it is always an undercurrent, especially for those of us who are Christians.  We want to know that God thinks kindly of us and is blessing us because He finds favor with us.  We can think and hope to gain His favor by all sorts of religious efforts, things like fasting, pursuing purity, certain types or ways of praying, worshipping with certain songs, or styles of worship, whatever.  We want to experience God's presence, to experience His blessing and love, and we set about "doing things" that we think, or have heard, will help.

What I felt I heard Him say this morning is, "you don't have to earn (pay for) My favor, it is free!"  That should be a very freeing statement, but in my heart I just think that can't be true.  I tend to place too many limits of human thinking and logic on the Lord, and the truth is that He is beyond all of that. I actually had an interesting experience a few years ago, (See: https://amomentwithgod-srh.blogspot.com/2015/04/today-is-day-of-lords-favor.html)  just as I was waking up I felt that I heard the Lord say, "Unless I tell you otherwise, it is safe to assume that you are always under my favor!" That statement really caused me stop and think and reflect on what the Lord meant.  I was amazed by my study of God's favor, and I still am.

This morning though, I felt like the Lord specifically was addressing our well-meaning desire to please Him, but was specifically targeting when that well-meaning pursuit slides into religion.  The truth is that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more that He already does!  The Truth is that He has already chosen us, and made a way for us to be in eternal relationship with Him through the death and resurrection of Jesus.  He has given that which is MOST precious to us freely, how much more favor could one hope for, or expect?  We somehow think that God is keeping score and is blessing us in accordance with that score.  We can find ourselves thinking that somehow we can earn a bit more of His love, or special blessings if we just d a bit more, show our love o Him a bit more, whatever.  I have heard well-meaning preachers talk about wanting to be one of His special friends when they get to heaven, or during the millennial reign of Christ, and their approach is to pursue a whole bunch of things to "earn" that right.

Paul and James both wrote about favoritism from God and as Christians.  Paul simply wrote, "For God does not show favoritism." ( Romans 2:11 NIV) In other words, He favors all of us equally!  James writes, "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism." ( James 2:1 NIV).  Again, the point is that we must favor all equally, as demonstrated by the Lord.  In other words, He has favor on all equally.  If we are already in His favor, why would we try to earn it?  Are we trying to compete for special positions of honor?  I am pretty sure Jesus warned about that very thing (See Matt 23:5-12).

So, back to the statement at the beginning of my reflection, why would I try to earn something that is already freely given?  What would my life and pursuit of the Lord in relationship be like if I actually believed that I am experiencing and under God's favor?  Would I be more free to love others, to give away those things that I hold dear and precious, knowing that all good things have come to me from God anyway?  Would I be able to stop worrying that I have disappointed the Lord somehow, and instead lean into Him in love and affection, and just enjoy His unchanging love and affections?  Could I step free of the requirements I have placed on myself to work to stay in His favor?  Could I look at others and enjoy God's favor on them, rather than being envious, knowing that God favors me just as much as them?  Could I shutdown the lies that I need to do something better, or be more holy to capture God's eye, and earn His favor? 

The Hebrew word translated favor is the word khane and it is defined by Brown-Driver-Briggs'

1) favour, grace, charm

1a) favour, grace, elegance

1b) favour, acceptance

If we are under God's favor, we have received His grace, His acceptance, and His love!  We have already captured His eye, and nothing we can do will cause Him to love us any more, or favor us any more than He does right now!

Let us enter into this rest, and cease from striving for His favor, and allow God's favor for us to settle into our minds and hearts!

He really is that good and capable of having favor on each of us, individually, uniquely, and equally!

Amen!