Thankful for Salvation

 Starting off this month of thanksgiving, we can only begin with what we as Christians should be thankful for the most, our salvation found in Jesus Christ.  I know that may sound like a “duh” statement, but again, in this month of thanksgiving, I want to challenge you.  When was the last time you genuinely expressed thanks for your salvation?  When was the last time that you looked back on where you were and where God has brought you now?  When was the last time you thought back on the past that God saved you from?  When was the last time you thought about where you would be and where you would be going if it hadn’t been for the grace of God to send His Son to die for us?

So many of us forget that we do not deserve salvation.  It is not something that is guaranteed unto man just for being created.  In fact, it’s only by the grace of God that we are saved.  

Do we forget that we are not perfect?  Romans 3:10 says,

10 As it is written:  “There is none righteous, no, not one

We are all sinners.  Romans 3:23 says,

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

And because we are sinners, death is the sentence upon us, but God in His love, gave us His Son, to take our punishment of death so we can spend eternity with Him.

Romans 6:23 reminds us that, 

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Those verses should excite us and bring so much joy and excitement in our hearts that we should be overrun with thanksgiving!

However, sadly, we don’t see that among believers today.  I believe the reason why is because we pay attention to the words without taking them to heart.  We forget to apply them into our own heart.  We are so used to hearing them being said to us that we forget to apply them and remember from whence we came.  Sometimes we become so accustomed to hearing the same thing over and over again that we can spout it off in memory but we forget to apply it in our own lives.

You may ask how that can be, but if we are honest with ourselves, we know this to be true and a common practice among men and women.  You hear story after story of relationships that feel empty yet they say they tell each other they love them every day.  It’s words.  Words are powerful but only when they have meaning and are applied in our hearts.  That’s the same with these.  We need to remember where we came from and where God has so graciously delivered us from.  It should bring us to tears in the same way it brought us to tears before.  However, it should bring us to rejoicing and praise as we see where God has worked in our lives.

 

Think about it.  God loves us so much that He makes salvation simple.

John 3:16 say,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

We must simply believe, place our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.  When we do this, our response will be a response of repentance.

Isn’t our God a wonderful, loving God!  

The even more awesome thing is this call to believe in Him and to accept His gift of eternal life is to all men!  

2 Peter 3:9 says,

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

God loves all of us and His patience and longsuffering is awesome for all of us.

His salvation call is open to everyone and anyone.  In Revelation 3:20 Jesus said,

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

In light of hearing this and thinking back upon our own lives, how can we not hit our knees and give utter thanks unto God for our salvation.  One which we did not deserve, but God in His loving grace, gave unto us.  

Remember the word, thanksgiving.  What did God give us?  He gave us His Son.  He gave us salvation.

So, on this first day of thanksgiving, I know I’m going to give thanks unto God for saving a wretch like me!