Talked to a gentleman yesterday who offered me a different perspective on thanksgiving. He said he had talked to many people who expressed thankfulness for their salvation. He said this was the wrong attitude, since they did nothing to earn it. God is the one who has committed all of the effort and heavy lifting to make salvation possible. We should not thank Him for it. We ought to praise Him.
While I don’t agree with his assessment, it did make me think. Our salvation ought to call from us thanksgiving and praise. But shouldn’t it also call sorrow from us? We ought to be sorrowful, to a degree, that we could not please God in all of our effort. Maybe our pride ought to take a beating knowing that despite all we can do, it is not enough. Second, that because of all we have done, God sent His own perfect Son to die in our place. We have no say about salvation. We cannot effect it. We cannot earn it. It is entirely on God’s terms. So I may sorrow a bit, in my own inadequacy, but then let me rejoice, let me exult that God Himself paid the ransom for me. He is the Redeemer, and He lives! Let me praise a God like that. Let me rejoice and thank my God who say me in my fallenness and loved me enough to save me.
Praise be to the Lord!
God bless you today.
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