True Gratitude

I came into your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfum. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.
Luke 7 43-47

One of the most impressive qualities of Jesus, besides His compassion, was the way He was constantly seen to forgive the sins of the ‘lesser’ in society. This woman is quoted in The Message as being the Town Harlet, implying that she had a great deal to be forgiven for in the eyes of the village. She knows where her Saviour is, so she goes to him sure in the knowledge that she will be forgiven.

The above passage is Jesus’ rebuke to the host when he claims that the woman shouldn’t have been ‘falling all over Him’.

We can compare ourselves to the ‘least’ in the world to convince ourselves that we are doing well, that the little mistakes we make are nothing in comparison and that the level of forgiveness we need or have been given is minute, but truth be told we all receive great levels of forgiveness from our Lord on a daily basis.

I find myself thinking about how much I take that for granted. I fell my heart slowly changing and my awareness of sin growing but I know there are still times when the world or old habits rule me and I do take it for granted that I will be forgive, perhaps even convincing myself at times that God will turn a blind eye to my moment of sin.

I can kneel at the cross every night and ask for forgiveness for the little slips in the day, for the gossip I partake in, for the way I treat the liars and cheaters, for the way I jump to conclusions about people’s motivations, for the way I expect to be treated and the way I act when my expectations are not met…the list goes on and on. I can feel God moving in the day and pause to thank Him for His intervention but is this really the kind of gratitude I should be showing.

I can sponsor children through Compassion and give to other charities, I can spread the word about causes I believe in, I can offer help and advice to those who seek it from me, but these are all feeble gestures if I cannot truely give gratitude to the Lord for the forgiveness I receive and that is an area I really need to work on.

This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ.
2 Corinthians 9:12

It sounds so easy when you see it like that but it is hard to love your fellow man when you hold onto the ways of the world. I think that is what I need to do; truly let go and leave it up to God. I keep going over the words of Rebecca St James’ song, I Can Trust You With This;

Lord, I know that You are worthy of my trust
For You have shown me time and time again
You’re faithful and yet
I’m so scared of letting go of this
Afraid of what You might do with it
How could I forget who You are like this

How do you show your gratitude? Do you feel that the level of gratitude you show reflects the level of forgiveness you receive? I’d be interested to hear your opinions.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God
Colossians 3:16 (NIV)

~ by Suzanne on January 23, 2009.