Seven Pounds (Ephesians 2)
Ephesians 2.4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) [nkjv]I recently watched the movie Seven Pounds. Will Smith plays a mysterious man who calls himself Ben and who spends all his time looking for strangers who need help, people dealing with illnesses, or in financial troubles or caught in abusive relationships. As selfless as that sounds, he has a personal reason for helping these people (don't read on if you intend to see the movie!)
Ben is trying to atone for his past. One night, in a moment of distraction, he caused a car accident which took the lives of seven people, including his own fiancee. Burdened by the guilt of this night, he goes to great lengths to find seven deserving people and help them, even if it costs him everything.
This film could have had a very different ending had Ben read Ephesians. We have all sinned. If God hadn't intervened we would been doomed to carry the guilt of our failures with us all through life. Yet God, so rich in mercy, because of His great love for us, even when we were lost in sin, made a way for us through His Son Jesus.
God offers to all of us His gift of grace, but we need to accept it. Like Ben, so many of us acknowledge our failures, and even realise just how undeserving we are. But the real tragedy is that many stop there. Instead of surrendering to God and receiving His gift of grace by faith, many try in their own strength to deal with the guilt, the shame and the hurt.
Some, like Ben, try to earn their redemption through good deeds rather than receive it by faith. At the end of it all, the peace that we are so desperately looking for, is only found in Jesus.
If we are willing to accept it.
