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READ: ROMANS 3:20-24; EPHESIANS 2:8-10\n\n\n\nBeing adopted by my family wasn\u2019t the only way my cat Oliver demonstrated a lesson of grace to me. You see, it\u2019s common for cats to leave little presents for their humans. And, when I say \u201clittle presents,\u201d I mean dead mice that we\u2019d find just outside the front door. Cats leave dead animals to show loyalty to the humans that take care of them. How cute is that?!\n\n\n\nAs you can probably imagine, my family had no use for dead mice. But I can\u2019t tell you how excited I was when Oliver began to demonstrate to my family that he loved us back!\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s how God\u2019s grace works in our lives. He pours out His grace to us. He\u2019s the One who gives us every single blessing we have. And what do we have to give Him in return? Dead mice! Isaiah 64:6 says that all our good deeds \u201care nothing but filthy rags.\u201d That means that the best we could ever give to God is still trash. Like dead mice.\n\n\n\nBut you know what? I still smiled when I saw those mice because they meant that my cat\u2014the cat I adopted and named and loved\u2014loved me back!\n\n\n\nGod offers us salvation from sin and death with no strings attached. I didn\u2019t adopt Oliver because of anything he could give me in return. And even if he never gave me a dead mouse, I still would have adopted him. Our God treats us the same way. We don\u2019t have to do anything to earn His grace, but, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we begin to respond in love at the heaps of grace God has dumped on us.\n\n\n\nGoing to church, obeying your parents, telling a friend about Jesus, working hard without complaining\u2014those are all dead mice. They will never earn you eternal life; your relationship with God is secure because of what Jesus did.\n\n\n\nEven though God doesn\u2019t need our offerings, He still delights in them because they are gifts from His beloved children in Christ. And He is able to transform and use our dead mice in amazing ways for His kingdom! \u2022 Emily Tenter\n\n\n\n\u2022 What are some examples of the \u201cdead mice\u201d you offer God? Do you ever compare your \u201cdead mice\u201d to those of other people? Why is that wrong?\n\n\n\n\u2022 Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Ephesians 2:10, and Philippians 2:13. If the best gifts we can give God are still worth so little, does it matter if we give them at all? How does God empower and use our efforts in His kingdom?\n\n\n\nWe are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6 (NLT)