NOVEMBER 5, 2024
Topic: “THANKING GOD FOR YOUR SALVATION”
Text: Ephesians 2:1-10
Memory Verse: “Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace are ye saved through faith: and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast”.
Have you ever wondered about the extent of God’s love for you? The Bible teaches us that God Himself is love. We were all sinners; we were aliens to God; we were enemies of God. We had rebelled against God; we deserved hell. However, in spite of the fact that we resisted God, rebelled against Him and sinned against Him, He still loved us so much that He gave us His only begotten son to die on the cross for our salvation.
Grace, according to the All Nations English Dictionary is the unmerited favour of God towards mankind. Bible scholars say that the word grace is mentioned over 170 times in the New Testament alone. Grace is not bought; it is a gift, given completely free by our loving Almighty God to needy mankind. We see Jesus hung on the cross as a gift of God’s grace in reconciling the world to himself. John Newton in his evergreen song “Amazing Grace” succinctly puts it thus: “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I was once lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see”. It is difficult for our human mind to comprehend the depth of His love for us through the grace He showed towards us on the cross of Calvary.
Some of us who lived our earlier lives seriously dead in sin will appreciate the grace that we now enjoy through the atoning death of Jesus on the cross and the blood of the everlasting covenant that He shed. We were dead in sin, but He quickened us together with Christ. By grace are we now saved through faith and not of ourselves, it is the gift of God through His love.
How then are we responding to God for this great love shown to us? We can only come to Him in total appreciation and thankfulness. If you do not deserve something, or did not work for it and somebody decides to give you free of charge, the least you can do to the person is to appreciate and thank him for the mercy the person has shown to you.
PRAYER: My God, this day help me to come to the full and abundant awareness of your bountiful grace towards me. Please give me a heart of thanksgiving towards you, Amen.