03/18/2024 – Express your Gratitude
Luke 7: 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
We can demonstrate the gratitude Christ deserves. This is one of the reasons our worship and service to God are so important. Have you fully demonstrated your gratitude to Christ?
Simon did not consider it appropriate to do any of these things. They seemed extravagant to him. For many of you the first time you came to church our actions may have seemed extravagant. It looks like fanaticism. But Simon felt this way because he thought he was deserving of the presence of Christ. This pharisee was convinced that his sins were few. His pride did not allow him to appreciate what God would do for him in sending Christ to the cross to offer him salvation.
The first essential element of gratitude is the mercy of God. It is what provokes our gratitude as a response. Christ provides the mercy that generates gratitude in us. Without it, we would not be grateful. And He also provides the gratitude itself! He provides it all! We read how our Lord Jesus expresses gratitude to the Father for the mercy that God demonstrates in giving of Himself to the least deserving, revealing Himself to babes- to persons illiterate, and of comparatively weak understanding, but are wise as to the things of God.