Give thanks unto the Lord for He is good!

I suppose all blogs have some sort of "the things I am thankful for" post.  Not that I fancy myself to be a "blogger" per se, but I feel obliged to add my list to the world wide web.  After all, I have much for which to be thankful.

Let me just start by saying that, it really goes without saying, that I am so incredibly thankful for my wonderful husband and two sweet children.  They bring unbelievable joy to my life, and I am so thankful to walk through it with them all. 

The thing that defines and shapes my life the most, however, is my relationship with Jesus.  He saved me out of the depth of my sin - even though I didn't deserve to be saved.  Actually, I didn't really think I needed to be saved.  I was "good."  I tried to do everything the right way.  Give me some rules, and I'll follow 'em.  I knew how to keep everybody happy; make sure everybody liked me.  I knew God wanted me on His team.  I was just so good!

Anybody who knows the truth of the gospel knows that this kind of thinking is far from the truth.  If God decided that we could be on His "team" because of our own goodness, why would He have gone to such incredible lengths to make a way for us?  Think about it - Jesus, the Son of God, God incarnate, there from the beginning of time, one with the Father - left His home in heaven.  Where it was perfect.  Where He never experienced pain, sadness, sickness, etc.  He came to earth and endured pain and suffering.  He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our sins.  So, if all it took for me to be a Christian was for me to be good, why did Jesus endure all of that pain and suffering?
That's the point.  God knew that I could never be good enough.  Sure, I could appear good from the outside.  But, my heart - oh my heart.  Just like Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick."  God knew my heart.  He saw how desperately sick it was, and He chose to save me.  Not because I deserved to be saved.  Not because of my own goodness.  No, He chose to save me because of His great mercy and love. 

And now, I am forgiven.  I am completely justified.  When God looks at me, He sees me as holy and righteous.  Because when He sees me, He sees Jesus.  Oh, I still mess up.  All. the. time.  (Just ask my family.)  But when Jesus freed me from my sin, He did it once for all.  I am no longer a slave to sin. 

That, my friends, fills my heart with unspeakable joy and gratitude!

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"  2 Corinthians 9:15

 

Here are the lyrics from one of my favorite hymns that much more eloquently expresses the gratitude I feel:

 

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.