A grateful heart is a blessed heart.
Have you ever met someone whose life is a walking proverb of what not to do? Let me qualify that question a little further. Have you ever met a believer whose life is a walking proverb of what not to do? If so, have you ever noticed how grateful they are to the Lord? In my experience, these are often the most grateful people of all! Why? Because they have confessed the full extent of their sinfulness to the Lord and prostrated themselves before Him, seeking mercy, the only hope they’ll ever have for redemption.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
— 1 John 1:9
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”
— Luke 7:36-39
There’s reason to believe that this woman – “a sinner” (v37) – was a prostitute, who would’ve been considered a low-life by prevailing social standards, certainly in the eyes of the religious Pharisees present at the time. Yet it was this woman who expressed the appropriate reverence for her Lord while the rest, the so-called upper crust of society, loathed Him and looked down their noses at her.
While the self-righteous reject mercy on the premise that it’s unnecessary, a repentant sinner thirsts for it and thanks God daily for receiving it.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
— Psalm 107:1-3
What I don’t want you to miss in this passage is how God allows us to sink to the depths of despair, by our own doing, in order to reveal the reach of His mercy. All He’s ever looking for is humility.
Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
they fell down, with none to help.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
— Psalm 107:10-15
According to Holy Scripture, God ordains low times in our lives in order to humble us (this is a tremendous form of grace). Once humbled, God reveals His mercy to us. When the whole process is over and we reflect upon our folly, gratitude takes root and we are blessed.
Some were fools through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
they loathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
— Psalm 107:17-22
The deeper we go into our sinful ways, the greater the revelation of God’s grace and mercy. Like the woman who kissed and wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair (Luke 7:38), our gratitude overflows. God’s will is that we live in this gratitude always, for we are blessed by its presence in our lives.
Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
they saw the deeds of the LORD,
his wondrous works in the deep.
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits’ end.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
— Psalm 107:23-31
God has the power to raise a storm and still it. Dwell on this – behind every iota of suffering you’ve ever endured is God’s will. For perspective’s sake, let’s face it, the vast majority of our suffering is self-inflicted through our own personal sinning.
It’s from the depths of our deepest despair that the Lord calls to us and we hear His blessed voice saying, “repent.” This lesson was so important to Jesus that He taught it through both a parable and narrative.
And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
— Luke 7:40-47
Take a moment now to ponder Jesus’ words in v47 – it could change your life. What’s the message He’s sending Simon (the Pharisee whose table He was dining at)? To paraphrase, Jesus was stating that the more a person is forgiven, the greater their love. To give that a little more context in your life, this means that the more humble and repentant you are, on a daily basis, even, the more you will abide in God’s precious love, experientially. The perfect example of this is the prostitute in Luke 7:37, who, in humility, recognized her own sinfulness to such a degree that the very prospect of being forgiven resulted in overwhelming gratitude and loving her Lord with abandon. My friend, don’t you want to love this way?
A grateful heart is a blessed heart.
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins