Grace is God’s determined effort to share His heart with us, the new people with new hearts He has created. Our connection with other people and our communication with others are designed by God to illustrate His connection and communication with us. When God says His relationship to us is like a friendship and a marriage He is giving us a simile to reference in our effort to grasp grace. The determined longing inside of us is the motivation of grace. It draws us to Him.

While it is true God lives in a nice place, and happens to have a large bank account along with diversified and extensive holdings, the fundamental draw is neither environment nor wealth. After all, if these don’t satisfy on Earth, why should we—or God—expect them to satisfy in Heaven?

The motivation of grace is the connection of hearts—God’s and ours.

Ezekiel prophesied that Believers would be given new hearts that are soft, pliable, and responsive to God (36:26-27). Hebrews makes the confident declaration that our hearts have been sprinkled clean (10:22).

Understanding why we do what we do, and what our motivation is, clarifies our heart’s desire. While the enemy of God would like for us to believe our hearts are wicked and unfit for God’s presence, the truth of the matter is, God could live anywhere He wished, but our hearts are His first choice. Why? Because He longs to bond with us heart to heart!

It is true, God saved us. Heaven is our eternal destination and all the riches that belong to our Father are ours. But at a more profound level, we are connected with our Heavenly Father through grace at the core of our being and His.