I told you about my crazy, drunken, hill-billy father … and that I missed out on knowing him because I did not realize the grace of God that covers me covered him too. I hadn’t received it myself and couldn’t extend it to him.

But my dad was a bonafide hero, and I did ask him about that once. He won a Bronze Star for Valor in WW II when he commandeered a jeep and drove back under fire to bring home some comrades who were trapped behind enemy lines.

When I asked him about it, he said, “I was young and stupid. I would never do that today unless it was to rescue your mom or you kids.”

Thinking about him the other day, I realized, in his own drunken hillbilly way, he was like Jesus, who also risked his life to rescue others — thankfully, every last one of us is, to Jesus, a beloved child, so there is no one He would have left behind, under enemy fire.

Whether you know it or not, you’ve already been rescued by a bonfide hero in Jesus, and He is with you now, loving you and holding onto you. Let His grace wash over you today. Realize that He has given all for you because you mean that much to Him.

And maybe you’ll find it easier to see the heroes in the drunken hill-billies all around you, too. Jesus came roaring back, under fire, not just to risk His life, but to give it up, to save them — and you. We all got a big break. So we can all afford to give each other a break, too.