01 Dec Grateful or Demanding?

I realize that you may have the sound of Christmas music in your ears and an aversion to more turkey in your stomach as I write this. But before Thanksgiving becomes too distant in the rearview mirror, let’s take one more look at what Christ-following gratitude should be.

We believers are often encouraged to make a list of the things we’re thankful for. This is a good idea. Because we are either grateful for what we have, or we are demanding that God provide something we don’t have. If we’re honest, there isn’t a lot of middle ground; your heart is mostly set on either one or the other. So, enumerating what God has provided is indeed a good hedge against focusing on requests for more. That said, not all blessings are the same. I believe it’s important to be most thankful for the greatest gift of them all: Christ on the cross. This should be the focus of our gratitude, before salvation, sanctification and any other “tion” word we can think of. It literally is everything.

Consider John 3:16-17:

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17 (NIV)

Consider what this passage doesn’t say. It doesn’t say “For God so loved the world He saved us from sin,” although we often read it that way. No, it clearly says: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” This is more than a matter of semantics. The Apostle John is explaining what God’s love directly produced: His Son’s death on the cross. That loving act results in our salvation, Jesus paying the price for sin that we never could pay. Skipping this step is how, I believe, we allow ourselves to slip from thanking to demanding more.

“I’m grateful for salvation, but…”

“I’m grateful for sustaining grace, but…”

“I’m thankful for mercy, but…”

“I’m thankful for all you have provided, but…”

As amazing as those gifts are, we still manage to become complacent and ask for more. But try this:

“I’m thankful Jesus that you left heaven, became a human baby, lived a humble life, and then died a brutal death on the cross, shedding your redeeming blood for me personally, that I might have eternity with you.” Just try putting a “but” after that.

John’s words in 3:16-17 immediately follow Jesus explaining to the Pharisee Nicodemus that anyone wanting to enter heaven must be born again in Christ, a concept that deeply confused Nicodemus. Jesus tried to clarify it for him:

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. John 3:10-15 (NIV)

It is through His crucifixion that Jesus shows us we must die to Him so that we may rise with Him. As we now shift from Thanksgiving to Christmas, let us continue to be in a state of gratitude. Jesus arrived in a manger because He had a date with the cross, a date on which we received our salvation, you and I. That’s the ultimate reason to be in a constant state of gratitude. No buts about it!

Pastor Jerry Bader