Thanksgiving is traditionally the day for eating turkey and maybe other unhealthful foods, sometimes even to excess, and then saying we are thankful for it all. But the person who has begun to glimpse the reality of the Gospel as good news better than we have thought, will find something else crowding out mere thanksgiving for material blessings: a deep sense of gratitude for Christ dying our second death for us.
It's something we mortals think very little about. The Gospel as Good News evokes from honest human hearts a profound sense of gratitude. But such a sense is impossible unless we appreciate the value of what we have received, or what it cost the Savior to procure it for us. Sometimes explorers have noted that very primitive people have no sense of gratitude. They simply take what is given them with no show of saying thanks. They just do not realize obligation until they become educated. Our preoccupation with material blessings at this season of the year is the direct result of our not understanding what it cost the Savior to redeem us:
(1) We say it with reverence--He died our second death (Rev. 2:11; Isa. 53:12). And His human nature suffered as did His divine nature. His sweating drops of blood in Gethsemane bears witness to the soul-agony He went through. And the hatred and ingratitude of those He came to save did not make His burden any lighter.
(2) He gave Himself forever to the human race. How would you like to give your entire life to living in a leper colony in the African jungle--never to come home again? That is infinitely inadequate to portray the eternal sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
(3) With His blood He bought the life and happiness of every human being, even of those who do not believe and who hate Him. He has made it possible for the wicked to enjoy life (if enjoy they can!). His grace is given, not merely offered, to every person. So, more clearly than we can realize, "Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!" (2 Cor. 9:15).
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
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Daily Bread - Readings about life and the Word of God.
