Karma and Grace

Good Karma, Bad Karma

I was listening to a guy on the radio the other day and he was talking about Karma. Basically he was saying that there is good karma and bad karma, and depending on how you live your life, either one will happen to you.  

Karma is defined as a reaction caused by an earlier action; cause and effect. 

They say that for every action there is an equal reaction. In Biblical circles we may refer to it as sowing and reaping. When someone is experiencing a tragedy in their life, an observer may say "he had it coming to him after all he's done!" that's bad karma. 

Or we see someone who has been doing it tough but always was kind and had a good attitude all of a sudden experiencing a miraculous turn around in their fortune, our response may be:" it couldn't have happened to a more deserving person" that's good karma". 

Karma vs Grace

The problem with karma is that it is based on the law of sin and death. In a lot of ways, it leaves no room for Grace, as when we have spent a lifetime being "bad", doing nasty things to people that they didn't deserve, then in reality we are signing off onto the rest of our lives in misery, and if you're that way inclined and you believe in reincarnation, you will come back in the next life as a cockroach or something and have to purge your soul in that next life to earn your way back into the following good life, and so on it goes, I think.  Confusing isn't it?  

I love the concept of Grace. I love that God sent His son Jesus to die on a cross for my sin; He who knew no sin became sin in order that we may have life. He took upon Himself our punishment so that we could have relationship with Him forever. And all we have to do is receive it. 

That's grace! 

The prodigal Son

I love the story of the son who spent his inheritance, which he demanded off his father even before his father had died, in prodigal living. It was a bit like saying:"I wish you were dead, give me now what's coming to me when you pass away, old man". Not exactly the most respectful thing you would do your parents? 

For those who are not quite sure, "prodigal” just means living life wastefully, spending money on wasteful living, living it up. 

So there were a number of insulting, humiliating, and bad things that happened to this young man as a result of his bad choices…I guess you could say the result of his prodigal living was bad karma because of how he'd treated his father when he demanded his inheritance. 

However, grace steps in where karma can't rescue the young man. The Bible says, when he came to his senses, he said to himself; how many of my father's servants have enough to eat and a place to sleep, and here I am having to fight it out with the pigs for a feed. I'll go back home to dad and see if he can't hire me as a servant. 

This is the grace bit, for when he is yet a long way off, his father sees him coming home and before the son even has the opportunity to give his well rehearsed speech about how bad he was and how he is prepared to come back and work as a hired hand, his father runs to him with arms wide open, falls on his neck and kisses him, puts a brand new coat on him and orders a ring to be put on his finger (a symbol of sonship). Then he throws him a welcome home party the like of which the neighbourhood has not seen. 

See, when we are in relationship with our heavenly Father, we are under His grace. Karma and the law of sin and death no longer apply, because God sent His son to take upon himself the result and effect of our prodigal living. 

Don't you just love grace? 

Have a great week!

Erick