Christian Living
I was getting excited as I quickly finished my breakfast at the hotel in Jackson, Tennessee. I was on my way back home to Dallas after spending some time with my son and his family in Ohio. I did not have to return my rental vehicle until late in the afternoon and had made the decision to do something I had wanted to do for some time. I planned to stop in Memphis and visit the home of the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley. I had been a fan as long as I could remember. I was fascinating with the gyrating figure, which, during his lifetime was the idol of people of all ages, cultural backgrounds, geographic locations and almost anything else one might imagine. Finally, I would walk the grounds of Graceland and tour the kingdom of the “king” himself.
The almost ninety miles between Jackson and Memphis were covered rather quickly and for most of the trip my mind seemed to be occupied only by the thoughts of watching Elvis on television. I had seen most if not all of the movies that he had made. I had many of his recordings and had played them over and over through the years. And now I was going to visit the place he called home.
I pulled alongside a gas pump and filled my rental vehicle with gasoline and made my way into the convenience store to ask for directions to Graceland. I was somewhat shocked when the cashier said in effect, “I think Graceland is somewhere around here but I really don’t know the location.” I wanted to ask if this indeed was Memphis but decided not to when I noticed a sign behind the register that read, “Welcome to Memphis, the home of Elvis Presley.” I left the store, shocked that someone in Memphis did not know the whereabouts of Graceland. I drove a few blocks and stopped at another convenience store. Not wanting to ask for directions only I sat down a small bottle of milk and a pastry and while paying the cashier asked for directions to Graceland. To my complete surprise the answer was, “I really don’t know where Graceland is.”
I then drove a few more blocks, stopping this time at a Hotel. As I approached the desk I felt sure that this time I would receive the needed information that would enable me to find the home of Elvis. “It can’t be,” I thought to myself as the clerk responded to my request with something to the effect of, “Is Graceland in Memphis?”
By now I am thinking, “Does anyone in Memphis know where Graceland is?” I eventually did find someone who knew the directions to Graceland but by this time I was well past the exit and so frustrated that I simply kept on the interstate and headed into Arkansas in the direction of Dallas.
I later looked back on this experience and realized that there is a spiritual parallel to this story. For those of us who know Christ know of another kingdom, a kingdom that is not of this world. And this kingdom also has a king, whose name if Jesus. And we might say that His kingdom is also called Graceland, for one enters it only through the grace of God. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:8 that “it is by grace you have been saved (NIV)…”
But as I found that there were people in Memphis who did not know how to get to the home of Elvis, there are many who do not really know how to enter the Kingdom of God. They think that they have to add something to grace and then Graceland ceases to be Graceland. We enter God’s Graceland only through God’s grace.
The same is true of living in God’s Graceland. Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that He has come that we might have “abundant” life. That means real life, meaningful life, life with purpose. And we have this life through the grace of God. John says in John 1:16, “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.” This means that in our lives in the Kingdom of God, here and now, we live by grace upon grace. We don’t have abundant life as a result of our effort but as a result of the grace of God.
I could not tell you myself how to get to Graceland in Memphis but I can tell you how to get to God’s Graceland. You enter and live in it through God’s grace and your faith in Him as you come to Him just as you are. Graceland in Memphis is temporal, God’s Graceland is eternal. I encourage you to not simply make a visit, but move in through the grace of God and your life will never be the same.
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