The Gift of God's Smile

If only, when God smiles, and say we are saved, we'd salute him, thank him, and live like those who have just received a gift from the commander in chief.
We seldom do that, though.  We prefer to get salvation the old fashioned way: We earn it.  To accept grace is to admit failure, a step we are hesitant to take.  We opt to impress God with how good  we are rather than confessing how great he is.  We dizzy ourselves in doctrine.  Burden ourselves with rules. Think that God will smile on our efforts.
He doesn't.  God's smile is not for the healthy hiker who boasts that he made the journey alone.  It is, instead, for the crippled leper who begs God for a back on which to ride.
                               (We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Daniel 9:18)
Taken from Max Lucado's Grace For The Moment