I've Been Graced Poem by Gary James Smith

I've Been Graced

I've been graced by the love of God
That gently drew me in
In spite of all my misconceptions
Of any knowledge of Him
I never knew His Word as such
What power rested there
And feeble were my offerings
In regards to any prayer

My eyes were opened through the Word
Which I heard one day
By a Bible believing preacher
At a church on a fine Sunday
My son had invited me to attend
At least four times before
And challenged me on broken promises
That I had said before

When he held me to account
For what I said I'd do
I wished I had never promised him
But I had to follow through
From a five year old lad
It was like a sermon to me
"Dad he said... You promised four times
Now keep your word to me! "

I wished I had never promised him
Why did I ever say that
Now I had to keep my word
My son sure saw tothat
So out to the pastor 's van I went
I might add... Most reluctantly
And hoped nobody on the way
Would possibly recognize me

I made him agree to two promises
Before I cut him slack
I said "this will be my first and last time
And we have to sit at the back
As God would have it just my luck
On my entrance to that place
I meet an old friend and chatted
While my family took their place

They had been used to sitting
In row number two
Which at that Baptist church
Was the first row too
Boy was I a tempered
But had to hold it in
They had already broken a condition
Which I laid out for them

So harboring ill feelings
Which I covered with a smile
I waited as the preacher prayed
In his religious style
He opened up the Word of God
To the gospel of John chapter three
And told a story about a man
Nicodemus a religious pharisee

And how He asked Lord Jesus
How a man could enter heaven
And Jesus went on to explain
That we must be born again
Nicodemus was bewildered
As to how that could occur
Shall a man enter the womb a second time
He just really wasn't sure

Jesus explained it nicely
In regards to the second birth
We are born the first time of the flesh
The second is a Spiritual birth
As this preaching went on
I became intrigued
As I had never read the Bible
I didn't know what I believed

But when he spoke on sin
And all of it's ramification
I was convicted by the Spirit
But not realizing the situation
I never knew the Spirit's power
And how it could convict
But God used His Word to me that day
Desiring to check it out a bit

Long story short I began to attend
That church more regularly
And God began a work in my heart
That continues to this day
Until I began to see my need
And what the Lord had done
And finally after a couple of months
I trusted in His Son

Yes I've been graced by God's love
Praise God He loved me so
And drew me by a child's desire
To see his father go
And how I praise Him I kept that promise
That I would go to church that day
God used it to bring me Salvation
That I still enjoy today!

Copyright April 2 20188: 21pm

Gary James Smith