GENESIS 20:1–6 – From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.”

THEME OF THE DAY. THE PREVENTING GRACE OF GOD. Every Christian knows the power of God’s saving grace – “For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Christians also know the power of God’s strengthening grace – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Yet, there is another expression of the power of God’s grace. It might not be one which crosses our minds much but is far more active than we realize; active to the point of daily working in our lives. It is illustrated in today’s scripture with King Abimelech. It is the “preventing grace” of God.

While living out the Christian life, we face many dangers from the devil, the world, and ourselves. All three of these crafty foes are master deceivers and no human, not even a Christian, is able to discern or defeat their tactics on their own. God never intended us to be victors over our spiritual enemies ourselves. As we rejoice over saving grace, don’t forget the purpose behind saving grace. It is that no one may boast in its accomplishment (Ephesians 2:9). And this truth of no human being able to take credit for salvation continues with the truth that no Christian can have spiritual victory alone.

In reading the account of the King of Gerar, he makes a boast to God. He brags about keeping himself from sin. Here is the setting. Abraham, the father of faith, is afraid. He fears man and out of this desire to “save his skin”, he tells the king that his wife is his sister. Abimelech does not commit adultery with her, but he fails to see what is really behind his restraint – “In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” And God said, “No, King. It was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore, I did not let you touch her.” One of the ugliest manifestations of pride in the heart of a Christian is to boast of personal spiritual achievements. Everything we are and everything we do is of grace; pure, undeserved and sovereign grace. Yes, we are responsible to defeat temptation and sin. We are responsible to “put on the whole armor of God” in the battles we face (Ephesians 6:10-18). But sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we even play with temptation and sin. We may be tempted to go to websites we shouldn’t; watch movies we shouldn’t; listen to music we shouldn’t; engage in relationships we shouldn’t . . .and the list goes on and on in the spiritual conflict of life. And what is so amazing is that God would not only give us saving grace, but preventing grace to keep us from foolishly running into sin. I don’t know how that works, but it does. God will intervene by His providence through circumstances and situations to exercise “preventing grace” and keep us from sinning against Him. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

So, as we make our daily journey to heaven, rejoice in saving and strengthening grace. While we do, let’s also thank God for preventing grace; the type that saves us from ourselves and sinning ways.

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for the wonders of not only Your saving grace but sin-preventing grace.”

QUOTE: “God expects us to flee from sin while God gives us the power and desire to flee from sin