I'm forever grateful

    For the past few weeks I have felt led to write posts on being thankful. It can be so easy to be distracted and discouraged by all the negative things happening around us. Yet, it’s important to take the time as often as possible to just be thankful to God for all that He has done and is doing. And believe me, when you begin to thank Him, you will realise how much there is to be thankful for. 
    During one of my devotions this week, I became overwhelmed as I pondered on God’s goodness and His love for me. I thought of the reality that He chooses to love us first even though we may not reciprocate those feelings. Each day He chooses to give me life whether or not I ask Him to do so. It’s not about my goodness, because I certainly have my faults, but it’s His choice because He loves me and He has a plan and purpose for me. I thought of the fact that He gave His best - His Son. He sacrificed His best for me even though I did not deserve it. In fact, I wasn’t even born, I wasn’t even on this earth but He made a choice to give His Son so that I could have the gift of eternal life … long before I even made it to this earth!
    There is a song that comes to mind, “I’m Forever Grateful.” The lyrics speak of gratitude to God for what He has done for us. The verse says:
    You did not wait for me to draw near to You
    But You clothed Yourself in frail humanity
    You did not wait for me to cry out to You
    But You let me hear Your voice calling me
I am reminded here of the story of Jesus’ birth and the reason why He came to this earth as He did. God did not wait for us to cry out to Him or to ask for His help. He knew we needed Him and He made provision for our salvation. He did not sacrifice just any thing, but He chose to let His Son, His best, be the sacrifice. In that way, once we accept Him, we would not have to face the consequences of our sin which is death and hell. 
    It is nice to serve a God who answers before we even call, who reaches out to help us when we need it. It is also nice to serve a God who would give us His best even though He knew that everyone would not receive His gift of salvation. How many of us would sacrifice something for nothing? Many of us would not. We generally would make a sacrifice hoping to get something in return. Not God. He sacrificed freely knowing that some would accept His gift and that some would not. And yet to Him, it’s not a waste because He chose to love us first - before we ever reached out to Him, before we ever enquired about Him, before we even made a choice to receive what He has freely given.
    We should then choose to overflow with gratitude to our God because He has gone above and beyond just for us. Everyday He chooses to love us, be there for us, help us when we need Him. Yes, He would love everyone to accept His free gift of salvation but His love for His creation does not just dry up just because some reject Him. Our attitude and actions, wrong as they may be many times, does not and cannot change who God is. He loves when it makes no sense and even though we don’t deserve it. He chooses to wake us up each day and to give us life - not because of our goodness or perfection, but because of His love for us and His plan and purpose for our life.
    God is good all the time and all the time God is good. We love to say those words but I wonder if we really understand the depth of them. God is good whether or not things in our life are going the way we would like. God is good whether or not we are good in return. God is love and He doesn’t stop loving just because we don’t love Him in return. God is God and that is not dependent on who we are or what we do but on who God is.
    So, this Christmas season, take the time to tell God thank you. You know what He has done and is doing for you. You know that you would not be alive if it were not for Him. You know that in spite of what you may be facing, you are where you are and you are making it because of Him. So, be thankful!
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is good and continues to be good no matter what. When you take the time to count your blessings instead of focusing on the negatives, your heart will overflow with gratitude as you realise that God’s got you and that you are safe in Him.
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