Friendship has its advantages.  It also has its responsibilities.  Any of us who reflect on those enduring friendships of our lives realize how they were deepened not so much by the receiving of goods and services, but how the responsibilities of friendship were honored in the giving.  The saying "it is better to give than to receive" has been overused to the point of becoming trite (even shamefully twisted to suggest giving as the best way of receiving), rather than appreciating the significance of the relationship that matures with generosity and self-sacrifice.  "No one has greater love than this," Jesus would tell his disciples, "to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13 ) 

If, because of the one man's [i.e., the earthling, Adam's] trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.  (Rom. 5:17 )

Within this biosphere God established to be our sanctuary, God (alongside human creativity) has cleverly positioned us to behold a certain "error of our ways" a mile beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.  As if the goings on above the surface were not already enough (an oil rig raging hotter than hell, burnt offerings and unholy fire rising up from its steel horns, the eyes of survivors bleary with anger and grief)...As if these surface horrors were not already enough to expose the vanities in which we labor (Eccl. 1:14), we have these deepwater images:  a failed blowout preventer, crude oil in the thousands of barrels daily* spewing out of the depths of our greed to slicken our oceans, to disrupt our ecosystems, to smother our wildlife, to fuel our consumption.  Perhaps you've seen them, too.  I behold from my easy-chair in high definition these silent live-feed images of billowing death (literally, fossil remains, ancient dead stuff!), and something like the sound of sheer silence crushes me (1Kgs 19:12-13; Job 4:12-17 ), compels me to veil my face and give answer to God, "What are you doing here, mortal?"  The question is acutely penetrating, is it not, Adam/Eve-shaking?

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God- not the result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2:8-10 )

Certain phrases of Scripture are so satisfying because, over the years, we've acquired a taste for their more subtle qualities, for the depth of divine character they reveal.  These beloved phrases have repeatedly spoken to our deepest sense of meaning and purpose in remarkably complex and full-bodied ways, maturing in us like a fine Chardonnay or Pinot Noir bottled up in our cellars to be brought forth on special occasions.  So, for instance, when we hear the words "working together for good," we are apt to recall that place where Paul remarks, "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose."  (Romans 8:28 )  Another of those uncorked phrases comes from the epigraph above, "For by grace you have been saved through faith..."    Yet another that, "God is love..." which continues, "and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them."  (1John 4:16)  How delightful and refreshing and wonderfully suitable for most any occasion these little toasts from Scripture become-more as if God's own Spirit knows the appropriate time to uncork these bottled up phrases for us and invites us to chill out, savor, enjoy.  When we do, we are blessed. 

And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."  Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.   (Revelation 21:5-6 )

We reach out, twist a little knob and fresh, clean, safe drinking water comes out!  We roll our half-dead bodies out of bed, stumble our way to the bathroom, twist a little knob and fresh, clean, safe drinking water flushes our wastes away, showers over our cold, weary bodies, soothes our parched throats-a morning ritual overflowing with grace.  God sends down fresh rain showers to soak into our gardens, green our lawns, ungrime our cars, making all things new!