Gratitude!

Good ole Webster’s Dictionary defines it as “an emotion of the heart, excited by a favor or benefit received; a sentiment of kindness or goodwill towards a benefactor; thankfulness.”

As we approach this Thanksgiving holiday, pounded with Black Friday ads, the temptation is to be thankful for days off from work or great deals. We can easily forget the grace of God and the love our Savior has poured out to us. Sadly, gratitude and thankfulness are lost arts in our society. We are excessively consumed with consuming and lured by the pride of entitlement. Far too often, we lose sight of the grace and love of God in our lives.

In today’s world, the charm of self-reliance, independence, and an attractive social media presence comes at the price of gratitude. We are constantly bombarded with selfish messages that lead us down the road of ungratefulness. As Christians, these things can cause us to forget, or worse yet, believe the lie that there is no reason to be thankful.

In Luke 17:11-19,

we find a wonderful story of 10 lepers who were healed, with only one that was moved by the miracle. He came back to Jesus with tremendous gratitude. I hope that we are inspired to be the thankful one, to recognize and remember our leprous state of sin; for it is only because of God’s grace that sin is not eating away at our souls. And, despite our repeatedly ungrateful hearts, I hope that we will be thankful for our Savior’s patience, love, and forgiveness.

I pray we will be strengthened to respond to God’s ever-present grace in our lives, to be Christ reliant, Christ dependent, and to allow gratitude movement in our lives. May we respond with thankfulness to the amazing grace of God, that we certainly do not deserve. 

Happy Thanksgiving week! 

Grateful & Thankful In Christ, 

Pastor Mike Towler