Go. Live. Be Free.

Note: If you haven't seen Les Mis yet, go see it. Also, if you haven't seen Les Mis yet, spoiler alerts. :)

Grace.

Sometimes, it's too easy, we make it hard for ourselves.

I saw Les Mis on New Year's Day, and I've been meaning to write about it, but better late then never?

There's so much that stood out, and I could write for days and days about the beauty and the truth found in that story (you really must see it), but I'll just leave you with a little bit today.

Javert.

He scared me.

Not just because he's a ruthless, heartless man. Not just because he shows no compassion whatsoever.

But because grace was right. there. for him. and he left it.

He worked hard for perfection. He worked hard to have clear black-and-white in his life. There are no grey areas. Everyone, absolutely everyone, gets what they deserve. The honest and hard-working get good lives, the dishonest criminals get terrible ones. They pay.

And he makes sure of that.

But then everything messes up.

And he's on the other side - someone else gets to decide what he deserves (and really, he doesn't deserve anything that great.). And that someone (who just happens to be a criminal, so why do they get to choose his fate anyways?!) lets him go. live. be free.

Grace.

But Javert, he can't understand it. He can't comprehend it.

His whole world has crumbled, and he's overwhelmed by the grace he's been given.

And he can't receive it. 

So he jumps off a bridge.

Me? I'm Javert sometimes. I'm this recipient of God's amazing grace living in a world where everything, absolutely everything, is earned.

But I'm trying to go. live. be free.

Because oh my goodness, wouldn't it be terrible if we wasted Amazing Grace?

The biggest tragedy in life would be to choose death instead of living the freed-by-His-grace life.

It sounds like a no brainer, but don't people choose death over grace everyday?

It's not necessarily jumping off a bridge because grace can't be comprehended.

You know as well as I do: It's possible to be dead even if there's breath in your lungs.

We live this cycle: chase money, possessions, power, connections... Look powerful, look happy, look fulfilled... yet we are the living dead.

And we complain about this dead-life but here's the thing: We choose it. We're the ones slowly spending, chasing, hoarding ourselves into our graves.

And how different would it look if we all chose grace instead?

Grace is right in front of you.

And you have a choice:

jump off the bridge

or

go. live. be free.