He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. — Matthew 5:45b (NIV)
This morning, did you greet the sun with thankfulness to God that he sent the warmth and light at the end of a long night? Did you consider that the sun rose for everyone whether they were God’s people or not? God cares for his creation on a daily basis. That’s common grace.
Through the idea of common grace, Abraham Kuyper encourages us to have that same caring for our world. When we go to “work,” we are not leaving God’s sphere because every sphere belongs to God. No, we are bringing common grace to the place where God has put us—whether that is art, science, business, politics or education.
Kuyper says, “Scripture does not arrange both of those—the way of salvation and natural life—like two ticket windows next to each other, but continually weaves them together like threads, giving us a view of the world, its origin, its course within history, and its ultimate destiny, within which, as though within an invisible framework, the entire work of salvation occurs.” (Wisdom and Wonder pg. 83-84) We don’t have to separate our world into spiritual and unspiritual. In fact, we shouldn’t.
By working in the different spheres of life, we are bringing the sun and the rain to the world as common grace. We are pulling the worlds of the spirit and the material together and this brings God glory.
Every day, while the sun shines, we have the opportunity to bring blessing to our world. This is our call—to be On Call in Culture. On days when you notice the sun or the rain, remember that calling and thank God that you can bring blessing on the world in the sphere that you are in.
How are you being used to bring common grace in your world today?
For an excerpt of Abraham Kuyper’s book, Wisdom and Wonder, click here
