GRATITUDE... Sunday

Devotional for 11/23/14

Once there was a wild dog who roamed the streets.  He was born a stray and didn't know what it was like to live in a comfy house.  Many beloved pets don't know anything but the luxury of a home.  But the wild dog had learned that humans were not to be trusted and would avoid them at all costs.  One day a young woman observed him rummaging through trash cans for a morsel to eat.  She had pity on the poor wild dog and wondered about him the rest of the day.  She could not get the images of him out of her mind. The next day she decided she would try to befriend him and bring him some food and water. 

Though he had done nothing to deserve her love, she wanted to help him and care for him.  She hoped that some day she would be able to give him a warm and cozy home with her.  She took food and water to him every day for a week, getting closer and closer to being able to touch him.  Her soft, gentle voice coaxed him out of the shadows, but he was still uncertain about this human.  Finally, one day she got close enough to touch his coarse coat, caked with dirt.  She stroked him, and he cowered away. The following day she brought a collar and leash, but as she stooped to put them on him, he turned on her and bit her hand and ran away.  She was saddened at the dog's actions after all the food, water, and time she had put into him.  But he was still wild, and though he took her free gifts that sustained his life, he did not pay her back with thanks or love.  He couldn't believe that she could possibly be doing those things with truly good intentions for his well being. Surely it was a trap! The young woman was devastated and never saw the dog again.  The wild dog never had the chance to enjoy the undeserved free loving home.

This is what it is like between us and God.  We are born separated from God, unable to know or understand Him.  As babies we don't know what it is like to live with God in his heavenly home.  Some people are born into Christian homes, grow up learning about him from their parents, and stay faithful throughout their lives.  They are like the beloved pets.  But others do not come to  know about Christ until later in life. The good news of God's free gift of salvation is met with different responses.  It may be a foreign idea for them to hear that there is nothing they have done or can do to earn God's loving forgiveness and a free home in heaven. Some are like the wild dog. They bite the hand that feeds them by not changing anything about how they live because they figure God forgives, right?  They think they can go on sinning and not worry about it and just ask for forgiveness over and over again.  What they don't realize is that this kind of thanklessness and ingratitude leads to eternal death because it is mocking God's loving forgiveness, like spitting in his face.

Romans 6:1-4 (NIV)  What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!  We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?  Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  

What then should be our response?  We show our gratitude for this free gift of forgiveness and salvation by doing good works, witnessing to others about God's love and bringing others to Christ.  

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)

Thank you Lord, Jesus.  May I always be grateful for your free gift of forgiveness and salvation, and may I strive to share it with others!   Amen.

written by Jan Andersen