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With Thanksgiving right around the corner, my mind is filled with gratitude. I could count blessings for days and never scratch the surface of all that God has done or given. Freedom to worship and live according to our conscience, the blessings of family and friends, and daily provisions are all granted by Him. Our jobs, health, homes, joy, laughter and even our next breath is a gift from the Creator of heaven and earth.
As I contemplate this, I recognize that there is one blessings that surpasses them all. There is one gift that exceeds any temporal reward or prize—the gift of salvation. And while my heart cries out, “Thank you, Jesus!” I still must ask myself: Just how grateful am I?
Am I truly grateful for the sacrifice of Christ? Do I really appreciate the cost of my salvation? He was pierced for my transgressions. He bore our sins on the cross. The Apostle Peter witnessed the crucifixion and understood the price Jesus paid. In the Epistle of 1 Peter he writes, “ Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (2:24). You see, I deserved death. I earned it. But He died to pay my debt! So, just how grateful am I for the eternal life I’ve been given?
Luke 7 tells the account of a sinful woman anointing the feet of Jesus. When the Pharisees criticized the action, Jesus gives a parable and then asks a poignant question: “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?” The answer was obvious. He who had been forgiven the most loved the most. Jesus then said, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little,” (Luke 7:47). Our love is directly tied to His forgiveness and it manifests in our obedience. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
So as I think about being grateful and about my love for Christ I’m reminded of the words of Charles Spurgeon: “If I had a brother who had been murdered, what would you think of me if I…daily consorted with the assassin who drove the dagger into my brother’s heart; surely I too must be an accomplice in the crime. Sin murdered Christ; will you be a friend to it? Sin pierced the heart of the Incarnate God; can you love it?”
How grateful am I? How much do I love Jesus? Can I be a friend to sin? Or do I walk in obedience? The reality is that deliberately engaging in sin mocks salvation.
Evangelist and author Ray Comfort illustrates this in a story he tells about a father and son who goes on a camping trip. The father tells his son that the river is full of crocodiles. He instructs him to fish off the bank but not to get in a boat. “It’s too dangerous” he warns. Yet, after a few days the son decided to ignore his father’s warning. He got in the boat and began to row out into the middle of the river. It wasn’t long before a huge crocodile came up and tipped the boat over. On hearing his son screaming for help, his father dives into the crocodile-infested waters and pulled his son to the safety of the shore. Yet, a massive crocodile had clamped its jaws around the father’s legs, causing blood to pour from the wounds.
The illustration continues: “Imagine if the son looked at his father lying there in agony, bleeding to death, and said, ‘Dad, I really appreciate what you just did for me, but I found it exciting out there with the crocodiles—you wouldn’t mind if I got another boat, would you?’ If the son could think, let alone say such a thing, the blind fool hasn’t seen the sacrifice his father has just made for him!”
A person who has a desire to go back into the sinful excitement of the world does not grasp the sacrifice of their Heavenly Father. In contrast, a grateful person will not casually return to sin. A thankful person will love and obey Jesus. How grateful am I? Let me ask: Do I treat my salvation and God’s sacrifice as a free pass to continue in sin? In the words of Paul I cry out, “God forbid!” (Romans 6:1-2).
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