One day last spring I was on my way to work when I had an epiphany. I was aggravated over something silly and complaining in my head about whatever was bothering me. Suddenly, I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit to shift my mindset away from complaints and towards gratitude. I began to thank God for my truck. After all, circumstances aligned in such a way I know it is the specific truck God wanted me to have. As I was thanking Him for it, I felt an undeniable chastising:
“And yet you can’t thank me for your salvation?
Lost Gratitude
Life can be hard: circumstances bog us down and we feel the weight of the world on our shoulders. There are times when it’s perfectly human to go to God in prayer upset and frustrated. However, this wasn’t one of those times.
I believe we often take for granted what Jesus did for us on the cross. I’ve been a part of a church for the majority of my life. I gave my life to Jesus at a young age so Christianity just feels like second nature to me. Like our spouses, we sometimes get comfortable and forget just how utterly amazing the gift we’ve been given truly is.
Understanding the Cross
What does Good Friday mean to you? Is it just another day or does the gravity of what Jesus did resonate true for you? I recently read all four Gospel narratives of the crucifixion and resurrection back to back. My purpose was research: just as I prep for a sermon by analyzing the text, I do the same for posts I write.
Now bear with me for a moment while I’m transparent: the great irony of my studying was while I understood the narrative of what I read, its implication was lost on me. Rather than sit in awe of the redemption story, I was looking for expository key points. What I was doing wasn’t wrong, mind you, but it wasn’t the direction God wanted me to take this.
Gratitude and Restoration
I completely scrapped the blog post I initially wrote. Instead, I believe God wants us to grasp this key point today:
Jesus gave His life for each one of us.
Sounds incredibly basic, right? Sometimes we need to pause and remind ourselves just how amazing of a gift salvation is. My gratitude for God giving me my truck wasn’t misplaced; God simply used it as a reminder to be thankful for this precious gift.
Pause right now and thank Jesus for what He did for you. I did as I wrote this. We’ve been restored once and for all. Unlike the sacrifices from the Old Testament, Jesus took care our of sins with a one-and-done moment of redemption.
Do you know Him today? If not, please reach out to one of us: prayer@wtlw.com. We’ll be glad to pray with and for you!
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