The Amazing (G)Race

I'm reading this awesome book by Philip Yancey (who is fast becoming a favorite author of mine) called What's So Amazing About Grace? It's really caused me to think a lot about the grace I've experienced in my life, so I thought I'd slip a portion of the book in here. Again, these are not my thoughts, but the Yancinator (thus keeping I am safe from the Plagarism Police):

"We are accustomed to finding a catch in every promise, but
Jesus' stories of extravagant grace include no catch, no loophole disqualifying
us from God's love. Each has at its core an ending too good to be true -
or so good that it must be true...

"From nursery school onward we are taught how to succeed in the
world of ungrace. The early bird gets the worm. No pain, no
gain. There is no such thing as free lunch. Demand your
rights. Get what you pay for. I know these rules well because I live
by them. I work for what I earn; I like to win; I insist on my
rights. I want people to get what they deserve - nothing more, nothing
less.

"Yet if I care to listen, I hear a loud whisper from the gospel
that I did not get what I deserved. I deserved punishment and got
forgiveness. I deserved wrath and got love. I deserved debtor's
prison and got instead a clean credit history. I deserved stern
lectures and crawl-on-your-knees repentance; I got a banquet spread for
me."